Cocaine Air: The Real-Life Smuggling Adventure That Has Netflix Viewers Talking

In a gripping tale that could have been lifted from a Coen brothers movie, the true story behind Netflix's new documentary mini-series "Cocaine Air: Smugglers" has captivated audiences worldwide for over a decade. In 2013, two former French air force pilots, Pascal Fauret and Bruno Odos, were arrested in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, with over 1,500 pounds of cocaine on board the private plane they were flying. Their epic escape by boat, involving a far-right deputy, Aymeric Chauprade, a former European Parliament assistant, Pierre Malinowski, and an aviation security expert, Christophe Naudin, has now gone viral across the globe thanks to the documentary series. Directed by Olivier Bouchara and Jerome Pierrat, "Cocaine Air" has already lured millions of views on Netflix since June 11, ranking second on the weekly top 10 for non-English content, following the South Korean revenge show "Mercy for None." Driven by colorful archetypes, "Cocaine Air" cleverly juxtaposes interviews with the pilots who still claim they had no idea what the 26 suitcases boarded on the small plane contained. The fiercely determined French judge, Christine Saunier-Ruellan, who led the investigation from Marseille and made sure the pilots turned fugitives were arrested when they made their way back to France, is also featured prominently in the series. The popularity of "Cocaine Air" on Netflix has even surpassed that of "Lords of Scam," another comedy-filled original documentary based on a tentacular investigation by Bouchara and Pierrat which came out in 2021 and charted the rise and fall of conmen who cheated the EU carbon quota system and pocketed millions before turning on each other. Speaking to Variety about "Cocaine Air," Bouchara said he and Pierrat were "fascinated from the outset by how unreal the scene of the arrest was." He joked that it was like a spinoff of "Narcos," except that none of the four fit the profile. Two pilots, former air force heroes, family men, and two passengers with no criminal records, not even for stealing potatoes. It was this dissonance that made them want to dig deeper. Bouchara and Pierrat were able to pull together the investigation thanks to their sources within the justice system and police, along with "more shady circles," Bouchara said. One of them is former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is currently serving a prison sentence with an electronic ankle tag on charges of influence peddling and corruption. He was questioned by Judge Saunier-Ruellan because his name showed up in the registers of the aviation company. Bouchara said he and Pierrat managed to secure an interview with Sarkozy by promising him they wouldn't caricature him. "We told him we would allow him to express how he felt when he saw his name associated with a huge cocaine scandal," Bouchara said. "He claims to have been the victim of a relentless judicial campaign for years. For him, this case is a perfect example of that." Pierrat is a well-known journalist and expert on organized crime who has worked on several projects including Jack Thorne's "Panthers" and has penned several books. Bouchara is the editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair France.