This tale is told in the Netfl ix documentary
White Tide: The Legend of Culebra.OFF TO TREASURE ISLAND!
Rodney told his wife he was going on
a fishing trip when he headed off to
Puerto Rico to find the hidden drugs.
MILLION-DOLLAR DREAM
Having lost almost everything,
Rodney Hyden saw the buried
drugs as his last chance.
“I HAD A COUPLE MILLION IN THE
BANK, AND THEN IT WAS GONE.
WHAT WAS I LEFT WITH?”
The charge against Rodney Hyden
was attempted possession of more
than 10 pounds of cocaine, which
carried a minimum 10-year sentence.
The jury quickly convicted him, but
the judge, apparently troubled by the
government’s role in planning out the
sting, sentenced him to 60 days in jail
and fi ve years of community service.
“I was very angry at myself for doing
something so stupid,” says Rodney
Hyden today. He still lives in Florida,
where he and Julian continue to tell
their story around the campfi re.urged Rodney to pick it up the same
afternoon. They arranged to meet in
the parking lot of a sporting goods
store a half hour later. Rodney found
Carlos inside the store and got the
keys to his car, a Chevrolet Cavalier.
Approaching the vehicle cautiously,
he opened the trunk to fi nd a duffl e
bag that felt like the correct weight.
It all seemed so easy.THE DEATH OF A DREAM
Rodney didn’t notice the approaching
footsteps until he saw the light of red
laser beams dancing across his shirt.
Moments later he was on the ground
in handcuffs watching Carlos being
welcomed by the sheriff’s deputies
and the Homeland Security offi cers.
It began to dawn on him: Carlos was
not a drug dealer at all but had been
using Rodney to locate the drugs for
the law. Offi cers had been tracking
Rodney from the moment he’d fi rst
sought contact with a drug dealer.