Netflix releases a documentary on how an entire island became addicted to cocaine following a drug smuggling incident

Unforeseen events led to widespread drug addiction among island residents

Netflix has launched a documentary that narrates the extraordinary tale of cocaine bags washing ashore on an island, leading to chaos.

Drug deals often go awry, but it's rare for such incidents to cause an entire island's population to become addicted to Schedule II substances.

This is precisely what occurred in a village on an island just west of Portugal, São Miguel, in June 2001.

The island was inundated with so much cocaine that many residents, previously untouched by drugs, developed addictions at a young age.

The people of Rabo de Peixe were so unfamiliar with drugs that some women used the powder for breading fish, mistaking it for flour.

Children found the large, book-sized cocaine bags and used them to draw lines for their football games, believing it was chalk.

Police have previously noted the extensive spread of cocaine and its impact on the island's youth.

Stories emerged about how some women mistakenly used cocaine to coat fish, thinking it was flour (Netflix)

Police inspector Jose Lopes stated: “Beer glasses filled with cocaine were being sold for €5 each.

“It was a nightmare. Some kids who had never even smoked started using cocaine.”

The documentary, Turn of the Tide: The Surreal Story of Rabo de Peixe, is now streaming on Netflix and explores how these unusual events unfolded, featuring interviews with those involved in the drug trade and residents of the island at that time.

What happened on Rabo de Peixe?

Italian drug smuggler Antonino Quinci, already known to authorities, was transporting uncut cocaine from Venezuela to Spain for a Spanish crime syndicate and had crossed the Atlantic at least twice that year on other smuggling missions.

However, this time, things went disastrously wrong.

Quinci diverted to São Miguel because his yacht, used for transporting the drugs, had been damaged by a storm, leaving the rudder impaired.

Not wanting to return to a shipyard with millions of dollars in uncut drugs for obvious reasons, Quinci tried to conceal his drugs in a cave and transport them to the shore in a dinghy.

Police seized nearly $50 million worth of cocaine that had circulated around the island (Netflix)

However, he was noticed by a fisherman's boat and had to alter his plans, attempting to sink his remaining cargo by wrapping the bundles in plastic and submerging them with chains, rocks, and an anchor.

Unfortunately for the suspected drug smuggler, another storm surge soon hit the cliffs, dislodging the anchor and causing the large bricks of cocaine to drift towards the island.

In about two weeks, police managed to seize approximately half a metric tonne of cocaine, valued at around $53 million today.

Quinci eventually served 10 years in prison for drug trafficking and using a false identity, before being arrested again in 2021 for smuggling hashish into Brazil and serving an additional eight years.

The island had only 140,000 residents at the time, and while some people reported the findings to the authorities, others quickly kept it, leading to a wild series of events for the islanders.

Turn of the Tide: The Surreal Story of Rabo de Peixe is available to watch on Netflix from Friday, October 17.