Kriti Mehrotra
Netflix’s ‘Turn of the Tide: The Surreal Story of Rabo de Peixe’ delves deep into the tale of how a Portuguese Island was overrun by cocaine uncut cocaine. It underscores not only the way hundreds of kilos of the drug washed ashore in 2001 but also its lasting, devastating impact on the once drug-naive area and an entire generation. Amongst those to thus feature in the original in order to give first-hand accounts of the same are then-prolific local drug dealers turned convicted felons, Antonio Pacheco and Rui Couto.
Antonio Pacheco Managed to Turn His Life Around After Prison
Although a proud native of the Azores archipelago in Portugal, Antonio Pacheco spent most of his childhood in New Jersey as his family relocated when he was merely 8 years old in 1969. He admitted that he didn’t enjoy the new urban environment at first because he had trouble acclimating, especially after spending his formative years in a small village, but he gradually evolved. Therefore, by the time the early 1980s rolled around, he was reportedly splitting his time between his two known bases before eventually deciding to return to his beloved homeland for good.
According to records, Antonio soon got involved with criminality, allegedly starting off with petty offenses before moving on to the local drug trade. On the show, he stated that his involvement in the local drug scene began after he developed a serious addiction to cocaine and heroin, leading him to both use and sell small amounts to sustain his habit. It was as a result of these aspects that he caught the eye of judicial police, only for them to strengthen their attention on him after 750 kilos of 95% pure cocaine washed ashore their island. While he was reportedly not involved in international smuggling, he claims he took advantage of the washed-up drugs by not only using them for personal use but also dealing them.
Antonio still remembers how there was a time when they were buying/selling cocaine by the cup instead of the gram for cheap right on the streets. However, when he was arrested following a narcotics raid on his home on July 16, 2001, he knew it was high time for him to turn over a new leaf. It was during this period that he realized he had never gained any assets or positivity from cocaine, only lost, so he was shocked when he received a 9-year sentence for drug trafficking. So, upon his release, he reportedly embraced sobriety, worked hard to find his old self, and rebuilt his life in the same village he had always called home. Thus, he is proud of the fact that he has never been arrested again and is now leading a relatively quiet life as a dog dad and a local mechanic.
Despite Facing Addiction Struggles, Rui Couto is Likely Hoping For a Fresh Start
Unlike Antonio Pacheco, Rui Couto seemingly had no significant issues adjusting to New Bedford, Massachusetts, when his family relocated there from the Azores when he was merely a young boy. According to his own accounts, he was a rather talented sketch/paint artist. He even won an art scholarship to Boston University during his final teenage years, but said he unequivocally turned it down. Rui wanted to do more in life, a path he claims he inadvertently set out on at the tender age of 16 when he first started getting involved with hard drugs and local gangsters. Little did he know he would get caught in 1978 and repatriated after a year in state prison. As per the show, he managed to join the Army upon returning to the Azores, but it allegedly only spiraled his own addiction and personal drug business further.
Rui claimed that apart from using hard narcotics, he was also able to deal a lot of it while stationed at Terceira Island, which allegedly continued even after he was discharged a few years later. Hence, by 2001, per the documentary, he was locally regarded as being involved in drug activity, despite being a dedicated family man with a loving wife, an adorable son, and a beautiful home in Achadinha. When an acquaintance suddenly showed up at his front door one morning with Antonino “Tony” Quinci, Rui helped the Italian native remain a fugitive for weeks. The latter is the man who had reportedly dumped over 750 kilos of cocaine in the water that washed ashore the Portuguese Osland before escaping prison just a week after his arrest by simply scaling the walls. However, he could not protect himself or the Italian when the narcotics division showed up at his home on the morning of July 16, 2001, to conduct a raid in a coordinated effort.
The narcotics team had no idea Antonio was cooped up in Rui’s chicken shed, so that discovery was also a significant win for them. In other words, on that fateful day, they not only rearrested the Italian trafficker but also local drug dealers Rui and Antonio Pacheco. In the end, Rui was handed down a sentence of 6 years and 8 months to 11 years, but his life sadly continued to spiral down following his release. As per records, his son unfortunately passed away, which resulted in him developing depression and drove him deeper into addiction, resulting in further arrests. Yet, today, it appears as if Rui is trying to remain sober and is hoping to find a place in a good addiction treatment facility; he wants to turn over a new leaf and do better.
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