Matt Damon is diving into some real South Florida history as he continues to promote The Rip, his latest Netflix crime thriller alongside longtime friend Ben Affleck.
During a recent conversation about the film’s Miami backdrop, Damon shared a story from the infamous Cocaine Cowboys era, recalling how Bimini became an unlikely hub in the drug trade’s heyday. Located just 50 miles east of Florida, the Bahamian island sat along a route frequently used by traffickers moving cocaine north from South America.
According to Damon, smugglers would fly overloaded planes to Bimini before intentionally ditching the aircraft in shallow waters offshore. Once the planes hit the water, cigarette boats would quickly move in, recover the cocaine, and leave the wreckage behind.
The tactic made economic sense at the time. During the height of the cocaine boom, a single DC-3 could reportedly carry as much as $120 million worth of product, making the loss of a $150,000 aircraft a minor expense in comparison. Many of those sunken planes still rest beneath Bimini’s waters today, serving as underwater landmarks from a period that once generated a significant share of the island’s economy before federal crackdowns slowed the trade in the late 1980s.
The story arrives as Damon and Affleck reunite for The Rip, directed by Joe Carnahan.
The Netflix original follows members of a Miami-Dade Police Department narcotics unit who uncover $20 million in cartel cash hidden inside a rundown stash house. What begins as a routine operation quickly spirals into a dangerous standoff as distrust spreads within the team and outside forces close in, turning a massive seizure into a fight for survival.
The Rip debuted globally on Netflix on January 16, 2026.
