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Speaker 1: Murder in Miami is a production of iHeartRadio. This week,

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Speaker 1: we'll hear more from the charismatic former marijuana smuggler Bobby

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Speaker 1: Platshorn on how and why he and Ron Elliott of

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Speaker 1: the Coconut Grove Guys crossed paths at the end of

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Speaker 1: the Black Tuna era. So the question I had for

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Speaker 1: you is, after you and I spoke, Phil mentioned the

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Speaker 1: name Ron Elliott, and I did not remember that name

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Speaker 1: from your book.

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Speaker 2: The Ron you're chasin was really not part of us.

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Speaker 2: They threw him in in the end because we tried

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Speaker 2: to get him and his partner to do a rescue

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Speaker 2: mission after we no longer had airplanes available, But that's

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Speaker 2: really all of it. He had nothing to do with us.

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Speaker 3: Did you get any read on him when you met

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Speaker 3: him in person?

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Speaker 2: No. I was told he was an excellent pilot, and

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Speaker 2: I didn't really know him. I reached out when that

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Speaker 2: plane crashed and Purvis and the other pilots were stuck

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Speaker 2: down there.

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Speaker 1: Bobby's referencing a crash in Columbia that involved two of

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Speaker 1: the Black Tuna Gang pilots. When their plane went down,

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Speaker 1: Platschorn was in need of another pilot to attempt a

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Speaker 1: rescue mission enter Ron Elliott.

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Speaker 2: Well, he had done a number of trips flying two

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Speaker 2: I think ASSESSMA for twenty one's doing trips into central Florida.

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Speaker 2: And he was using two so that one could be

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Speaker 2: a ghost plane and one would be a legitimate check.

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Speaker 3: In, so one was like a decoy.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, he did a lot of trips. He

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Speaker 2: was successful. He was bringing him into I think north

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Speaker 2: central Florida.

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Speaker 3: And so what did you want him to do for you?

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Speaker 2: Go pick up the stranded pilots. I probably offered him

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Speaker 2: a couple of hundred brand or something to go pick

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Speaker 2: them up, get them out of there, and needed somebody

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Speaker 2: who was willing to go down right away. I mean,

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Speaker 2: we had to get them out of there. They were

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Speaker 2: hiding in the jungle. If the Columbian Army or police

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Speaker 2: could find them, then it would be a serious jail

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Speaker 2: term for them or a serious expense bailing them out.

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Speaker 1: So originally he agreed to do it. But in addition

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Speaker 1: to the money, he wanted coke.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't remember if it may have been ten.

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Speaker 3: Keys, which would have been a lot.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and that's not a huge shipment, but it

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Speaker 2: would have put a lot of money in his pocket.

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Speaker 2: But I had no intention of getting involved in the

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Speaker 2: coke business. So I made a point of getting a

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Speaker 2: hold of my connection in Columbia or Raoul and tell them,

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Speaker 2: under no circumstances was any cocaine to go on the plane,

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Speaker 2: because at that point it felt like a setup.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: And so did he rescue the pilots?

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Speaker 2: Yes, he did, but he didn't get the coke.

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Speaker 3: How did he react to that?

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Speaker 2: I don't recall tell you the truth, but I know

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Speaker 2: when Fervis got out of the plane, the DEA was

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Speaker 2: there waiting for him, and he was waiting to help

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Speaker 2: the DEA.

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Speaker 1: So you went to all that effort to save him, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and then he turned on you exactly. Thank god you

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Speaker 1: didn't put any coke on that plane because if the

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Speaker 1: DA was waiting for it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it was originally a coke charge in the indictment,

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Speaker 2: but they.

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Speaker 3: Pulled it out, so it was a setup.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it was a setup. I don't know if ron

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Speaker 2: Elliott knew it was a setup, but George Fervis certainly knew.

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Speaker 3: How did the DA even know to be there?

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Speaker 2: They were set up with George. George had been busted

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Speaker 2: bringing the shipment into North Carolina. When he got out

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Speaker 2: on bail, he needed a place to live and stay

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Speaker 2: till his trial, and I let him work at our

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Speaker 2: used car lot, which was part of our auction complex,

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Speaker 2: so he was around all the time. Then he did

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Speaker 2: this airplane trip to Columbia. Plane crashed and we had

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Speaker 2: to get them out of there, him and two pilots,

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Speaker 2: and we got them out. I felt that was my responsibility,

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Speaker 2: even though that wasn't my trip.

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Speaker 1: Wow, how did you feel when you found out that

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Speaker 1: the DA was waiting and that he turned.

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Speaker 2: I was pretty well sure of it before he was back.

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Speaker 2: Just all the arrangements for the rescue just had a

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Speaker 2: bad feel, and I was pretty sure that.

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Speaker 3: They'd be waiting, and you did the right thing.

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Speaker 2: I was worried about it, but one thing at a time,

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Speaker 2: get them out of Columbia first.

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