The Cocaine Cowboys era began in the 1970s, when Colombian drug cartels started using Miami as a major hub for their cocaine trafficking operations. The city's proximity to the Caribbean and its lax law enforcement made it an ideal location for the cartels to smuggle large quantities of cocaine into the United States. As the cartels' power grew, so did the level of violence and corruption in the city. Drug-related murders and kidnappings became commonplace, and many of Miami's politicians and law enforcement officials were either bribed or intimidated into turning a blind eye to the cartels' activities. The era came to an end in the late 1980s, when a combination of federal and local law enforcement efforts finally began to dismantle the cartels' operations. The legacy of the Cocaine Cowboys era can still be seen in Miami today, with many of the city's neighborhoods still struggling to recover from the devastation caused by the drug trade.