A Reminder That Marco Rubio's Brother-in-Law Was a Prolific Cocaine Trafficker
While Trump deports immigrants for old drug charges, Rubio's brother-in-law was the frontman of a drug trafficking operation.
By Naomi Feinstein
September 17, 2025
Marco Rubio's brother in law was once a major cocaine trafficker. Photo by U.S. Embassy Jerusalem/Flickr
Almost 40 years ago, a Cuban immigrant was arrested and convicted of distributing $15 million worth of cocaine as part of a major drug ring operating out of South Florida. The man stored kilos of cocaine in a spare bedroom inside his West Kendall home to later smuggle around the United States in cigarette cases.
During Miami's Cocaine Cowboy era of the 1970s and '80s, Orlando Cicilia played a major role in an international drug ring, using an exotic animal business as cover. Mario Tabraue, who would later allow spotted leopards to roam free inside his Coconut Grove estate, was the boss of the operation, but Cicilia was the frontman. In 1989, Cicilia was sentenced to 35 years in prison. He was released early in 2000.
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Decades-old drug offenses, often much less serious than Cicilia's charges, have come back to haunt immigrants living in South Florida as President Donald Trump unleashes his hard-line immigration agenda. Juan Erles González, a 56-year-old Cuban immigrant who served 18 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent of distributing cocaine nearly two decades ago, now faces deportation.
In July, 75-year-old Isidro Pérez died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after immigration officers picked him up at a community center and charged him with "inadmissibility pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act." In the 1980s, he was convicted of marijuana possession and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
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