Mickey Munday

Mickey Munday^[1] (born Michael O. Munday;^[2] June 29, 1945) is a former American drug trafficker and former associate of Colombia's Medellin Cartel during the growth phase in cocaine trafficking, 1975–1985. Munday was featured in the 2006 Rakontur documentary, Cocaine Cowboys.^[3]

Image of Mickey Munday taken in 2011 in Miami, Florida.

Internationally renowned for his abilities to circumvent law enforcement's efforts to capture and arrest him by boat or airplane during Miami's cocaine epidemic, Munday was often referred to as the "MacGyver" of cocaine smugglers.^[4][5]

Now known as "The last surviving "Cocaine Cowboy,^[6]" Munday makes his living as an actor, writer, speaker and storyteller. His latest CD, Tall Tales, is a collection of adventurous anecdotes re-told by Munday about his days as a smuggler.^[2]

Early life

Mickey was born and raised in Miami, Florida. His father, George "Sunny" Munday, (June 13, 1907 – October 1975) was a professional football player, who played four seasons in the NFL and was a machine shop owner.^[7] Mickey's mother, Dorothy Duncan, (1913–2011) was a former Miss Ohio beauty queen and school teacher, who taught at North Miami Junior High school until her retirement in 1976. Mickey has one sibling, a younger brother.

When Mickey was 13-years-old, his father put him to work at the family-owned concrete business, M Block. There Mickey learned how to manufacture and design concrete ventilation, benches, tables, fences, and stepping stones.^[8]

Munday attended Dade County Junior College in 1965 and studied engineering. When college was unable to meet Mickey's demands for creativity and intellectual stimulation, he withdrew from his studies and started his own business, Micke’s Welding LLC.^{[citation needed]}

In 1971, Mickey took over M Blocks after his father took ill and retired. He ran his father's company until 1978, closing it after a rapid decline in Florida’s economy forced construction in the area to come to a halt.^[8]

From 1972 through 1978, Mickey owned and operated several different businesses simultaneously. In 1972, he opened Mike’s Bike Shop, specializing in high-performance motorcycles. In 1975, he opened Ultimate Boats, a custom boat manufacturing company specializing in open fish and speed boats. In 1980, he founded LC Towing.

Mickey Munday sitting on the wing of a plane during a photo shoot.

Introduction to Trafficking

Munday's entry into the world of trafficking came strictly as a matter of happenstance. The sudden death of a close friend, in 1978, left Mickey responsible for removing unwanted contraband from his friend's warehouse before the man's grieving parents found it. Thinking it was only 2-10 pounds of marijuana, Mickey was shocked to discover 2,000 pounds of marijuana inside a locked room.^[9]

After clearing out the room, Mickey gave 2,000 pounds of the pot to his friend, who sold it and split the profits with Mickey. In the end, Munday earned $165,000 from that sale, which in 1978, was phenomenal.^[10]

After careful consideration and extensive planning, Munday purchased his first plane, a 680 Aero Commander, and began transporting marijuana from South America to the U.S., devising ingenious methods of avoiding unwanted attention from law enforcement along the way.^{[citation needed]}

In 1980, Max Mermelstein, an American associate of the Medellin Cartel, was introduced to Jon Roberts, who was in need of a direct supplier of cocaine into the United States. Mickey introduced Roberts to Medellin’s high-ranking member of the Colombian cartel and Pablo Escobar’s “American Connection” Rafael “Rafa" Cardona Salazar.^[11]

Following a meeting with drug lord Pablo Escobar in 1981, Munday and Mermelstein put an end to the theft of tools and spare parts left behind at the Colombian air strips by Mickey and his fellow pilots. They also managed to improve some of the deplorable conditions that existed at these air strips by leavening $20,000 in fines against Escobar's operation each time tools went missing or ideal conditions were not met. After $200,000 in fines were imposed against Escobar, the theft was stopped and the conditions were improved.^{[citation needed]}

Downfall

Max Mermelstein was arrested in 1985 by Miami Police as a multi-kilo dealer and was implicated by a California trafficker who gave information to the DEA in exchange for a lighter sentence. Mermelstein turned state's witness against the Medellin Cartel after his arrest and provided information that led to the subsequent raids on Munday's properties on September 20, 1986.^{[citation needed]}

Munday, a step ahead of law enforcement, had held agents at bay by opening the gas tank of a cocaine-laden plane and pointing a flare gun at several 55-gallon gasoline drums nearby. Federal agents were noted as saying it was a standoff and Munday escaped.^[12] Munday then fled into the Florida swamps that he knew very well and managed to elude capture by federal authorities until 1990, when he was finally arrested in Richmond, Virginia by U.S. Marshals.^[13] Munday was sentenced to ten years in a federal correction facility and was released on December 9, 1999.^[14]

Personal life

Munday, who has never married, has an adopted daughter, Jessica Brant (born October 23, 1967), and three grandchildren. Munday continues to live in South Florida, where he enjoys his local celebrity status as the last surviving "Cocaine Cowboy" and was coined by Miami New Times reporter Gus Garcia Roberts as "A South Florida Local Treasure".^[15]

The Telegraph's Jacqui Goddard reports that Munday lived a low-key, frugal lifestyle both during his heyday as a drug trafficker and presently:

While his cocaine cohorts cruised Miami in Lamborghinis and Ferraris, Munday largely eschewed the flashy lifestyle that his tens of millions of dollars in fees could have bought him, figuring that it was better not to draw attention to himself. He channelled most of his cash into buying property, which was all forfeited after he was prosecuted. He now lives what he admits is a "frugal existence" in Miami, getting around on a pedal bicycle with his fashion-defying long, blond hair flowing behind him, his look perhaps more Dog the Bounty Hunter than Miami Vice.^[16]

Munday, became the last "Cocaine Cowboy" standing, "who is still alive and not behind bars", following Griselda Blanco's death in September 2012.^[17]

Current career

Munday now makes his living as an actor, writer, speaker and storyteller.^[17] He also works occasionally as a resource for SOUTHCOM (US Military's Southern Command)'s research partnership with Florida International University. In that capacity, he has twice been invited to speak to members of such crime-fighting agencies as the DEA, the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Coast Guard, police, and armed forces, to share information helpful to counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism strategies.^[16]

External links

• Official Site
• IMDB
• Facebook
• Twitter

See also

• Cocaine Cowboys
• Medellín Cartel

References