An Abandoned Plane Wreck At The Bottom Of The Sea Once Belonged To A Notorious Criminal

Off an isolated island in the Bahamas, snorkelers float in the turquoise waters, gazing at the glittering world beneath the surface. But it isn’t just the marine life that they’re here for. Down in the depths below lies a relic from the darkest chapter of Norman’s Cay’s history — a crashed plane with links to the drug trade.

Norman's Cay

Located in the Exuma region of the Bahamas, Norman’s Cay is the sort of island paradise that dreams are made of. In fact, it was footage of its white sand beaches and sparkling seas that drew thousands of unsuspecting revelers to the ill-fated Fyre Festival in 2017. But back in the late 1970s, it became the setting for drama of a different sort.

The Medellín Cartel

On behalf of Pablo Escobar’s powerful Medellín Cartel, drug lord Carlos Lehder took over the majority of Norman’s Cay, incorporating the island into his smuggling routes. And for years, it served as the hedonistic epicenter of a wild and dangerous world. Nowadays, though, only a few dedicated tourists make it to this far-flung corner of the globe.

Plane wreck

Many, of course, are fascinated by Norman’s Cay’s less-than-savory past. And there are few relics as intriguing as the World War II aircraft submerged in shallow waters off the island’s coast. Long associated with numerous urban legends, this plane’s inspired many tall tales — though the truth’s perhaps the most interesting story of all.

A sleepy island

The transformation of Norman’s Cay from Bahamian paradise to drug-runner’s party hotspot began in 1978 when Lehder started acquiring the island piece by piece. Prior to that, the sleepy outcrop a few hundred miles from the shores of Florida was inhabited only by a handful of locals — the sort of place that’d remained unchanged for generations.

Carlos Lehder

With Lehder, though, all that changed. Born in Colombia in 1949, the future drug lord relocated to the United States as a teenager, where he soon became caught up in the world of petty crime. And during a stint in jail, he came up with a scheme to revolutionize the smuggling trade.

Smuggling

In the past, drugs had been brought into the U.S. on commercial aircraft, hidden inside luggage. But under Lehder’s new plan, private, low-flying planes would be used to move goods into the country. And as soon as he was freed, he set about making his dream a reality.

Pablo Escobar

With the help of a partner he’d met in jail, Lehder established a smuggling route that stopped off in the Bahamas before entering the U.S. And this new approach certainly proved profitable. Teaming up with the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, he became one of the original members of the infamous Medellín Cartel.

Private island

With his smuggling operation a success, Lehder was able to bribe the Bahamian authorities into ingturn a blind eye. But that wasn’t enough for this increasingly ambitious criminal. And at some point in the late 1970s he began formulating a new plan. According to reports, he wanted to acquire his own private island where he could conduct his affairs without interference.

Buying Norman's Cay

Searching for the perfect location, Lehder’s eye settled on Norman’s Cay, a small Bahamian community consisting of around 100 houses. At first, he purchased a single property for himself, along with an airstrip and a hotel. But over time, he began acquiring more and more of the isolated island.

Fiefdom

When existing residents didn’t want to sell up, reports claim, Lehder intimidated them into leaving. And eventually, the entire island was under his control. The drug lord had essentially created his own fiefdom where the laws of the mainland didn’t apply. And it soon turned into a playground for members of the Medellín Cartel.

Fyre Festival

Today, many believe that Norman’s Cay was once owned by Pablo Escobar himself. In fact, the organizers of the ill-fated Fyre Festival — originally scheduled to take place on the island — touted this alleged connection as a major selling point. But the claim wasn’t true and local authorities pulled their permission for the festival, causing a last-minute panic while a new venue was found.

Urban legends

By that point, though, thousands of tickets had already been bought. Clearly, the idea of following in Escobar’s footsteps struck a chord with plenty of young party-goers. But the truth is that Norman’s Cay never belonged to the drug lord — though he most likely visited several times while the island was under Lehder’s control.

Fortress and party destination

For four years, Norman’s Cay was at the heart of the Caribbean drug trade, serving as a stop-off point for private airplanes en route to the U.S. And in one sense, it was a fortress, protected by violent dogs and armed sentries. But it was also a holiday destination of sorts, where members of the Medellín Cartel came to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Debauchery

To enable more aircraft to land on Norman’s Cay, Lehder added radar facilities and renovated the runway so that it extended more than 3,000 feet. Guests were greeted by Land Rovers driven by beautiful women in various states of undress. With no law enforcement on the island, visitors were free to indulge in all manner of debauchery without fear of repercussions.

Brian Ross

Like most criminal operations of this scale, though, Lehder’s time on Norman’s Cay wouldn’t last. In September 1983 the U.S. reporter Brian Ross exposed the corruption of the Bahamas’ rulers. And the on-going fallout meant that the drug lord was unable to return to his island home. With his accounts frozen, he lost his billion-dollar fortune practically overnight.

Caught red-handed

Lehder then went on the run, traveling to Colombia where he attempted to restart his career. But when police received a tip-off about his location, he was caught. According to some, the report came from Escobar himself, who was keen to rid himself of his increasingly erratic associate.

Extradition

Captured and extradited to the U.S., Lehder was sentenced to life behind bars. But in June 2020, after several unsuccessful appeals, he was released and permitted to live in Germany, where his father was raised. Since then, he appears to have led a private and uneventful life — a far cry from the drug-fuelled parties of Norman’s Cay.

Norman's Cay today

And things have certainly calmed down back on the island that Lehder once controlled, too. A quarter of a century after serving as the playground of the Medellín Cartel, Norman’s Cay has returned to life as a sleepy tourist destination. But here and there, relics of the region’s sinister past crop up among the paradise beaches and sparkling seas.

Curtiss C-46 Commando

Perhaps the most interesting of these is the wreck of a Curtiss C-46 Commando that sits in shallow waters just off the island’s coast. A type of transport craft, it was once used to carry supplies and soldiers to the front lines of World War II. So how on earth did it end up here?

A legendary plane

The sight of a wrecked plane so close to an island once known for nefarious goings-on has, unsurprisingly, spawned many legends over the years. According to some, the aircraft once belonged to Escobar himself. Others claim that it was weighed down by a huge shipment of drugs when it crashed into the ocean below.

Jack Reed

But the most likely explanation for the wreck comes from Jack Reed, a pilot who lived on Norman’s Cay at the peak of Lehder’s career. Speaking to MayCay Beeler for her 2014 book Buccaneer: The Provocative Odyssey of Jack Reed, Adventurer, Drug Smuggler & Pilot Extraordinaire, he recounted an event that took place in the 1970s.

British Andy

According to Reed, a man known only as “British Andy” acquired the C-46 in Florida and decided to fly it out to Norman’s Cay. Apparently, he’d worked for Lehder in the past and wanted to persuade him to buy the plane for use in the smuggling trade. And so, he boarded the aging aircraft and set out for the Bahamas.

Under the influence

There, Lehder declined to purchase the plane — though he did tell Andy to stay and enjoy the island for a while. But, Reed recalled, the pilot had an unfortunate habit of drinking while behind the controls of a plane. And one morning, while under the influence, he took the C-46 out for a spin.

Touched down short

With a drunk pilot in charge, it didn’t take long for things to go wrong. “As Andy made his approach for the first landing, he miscalculated the beginning of the runway and touched down short,” Beeler wrote. “Realizing his error at the last moment, he gave the old girl full throttle to execute a go-around. To his great dismay, he clipped an earthen berm, tearing the left landing gear loose from its housing, leaving it dangling from the aircraft by cables and hoses.”

One engine down

And the disaster didn’t end there. Beeler continued, “The plane then dipped low enough for the propeller on the left engine to strike the runway — bending it — and rendering it useless. With the right engine roaring and straining to keep the plane airborne, a bit of altitude was gained. It was only enough to clear the runway though, and make a slow settling arc to the left, running out of flying speed and altitude about a block offshore of the marina in front of the hotel.”

Belly-flopped

In the end, Reed recalls, the C-46 met a watery end off the coast of Norman’s Cay. As he describes it, “The plane belly-flopped to a splashing spectacular halt in shallow water, about half of it submerged.” And while the island’s undergone many changes over the years, the wreck’s remained there ever since.

Tourist attraction

Remarkably, Andy survived the ordeal and returned to the U.S., his travel costs covered by Lehder himself. And over time, the plane that he left behind has turned into a tourist destination in its own right. With the Medellín Cartel and its cronies long gone, Norman’s Cay attracts an entirely different breed of visitors today.

Snorkelers and boaters

Nowadays, the island’s frequented by boaters and snorkelers, many of whom are keen to catch a glimpse of the sunken plane. But as the relic’s fame has grown, so too have the urban legends surrounding its unfortunate fate. In the meantime, of course, the world it once represented has all but faded away.

Escobar's empire

Still, for some years after Lehder’s incarceration, the Medellín Cartel continued to thrive with Escobar at its helm. The drug lord eventually had a personal fortune of $30 billion. And while he never claimed Norman’s Cay among his assets, he did acquire a vast property empire that stretched from Florida to the Caribbean.

Hacienda Nápoles

At the heart of this was Hacienda Nápoles, a sprawling mansion located in Colombia’s Puerto Triunfo region. Like Norman’s Cay, it was an elaborate playground for Escobar and his close associates, filled with bizarre oddities such as an exotic zoo and a sculpture park. Reportedly, the property even boasted a private airfield and a Formula 1 circuit.

Robin Hood

But all the luxurious belongings in the world couldn’t save Escobar in the end. In December 1993 the drug lord was shot and killed by law enforcement agents, leaving a bizarre legacy behind. To some, he’d been a violent criminal mastermind, responsible for a series of assassinations and deaths. To others, though, he’d been something of a Robin Hood character, handing out support to Colombia’s poorest communities.

Wild animals

After Escobar’s death, many of his properties were abandoned, left to slowly rot and decay. At Hacienda Nápoles, the Colombian authorities took over, turning many of the resident animals loose. In fact, there are still several hippos roaming the wilds of Puerto Triunfo today as a direct result of this missguided action.

Luxury resort

Over on Norman’s Cay, meanwhile, things slowly returned to normal. And the land that’d been seized by the government eventually reverted back into the hands of private owners. According to reports, the island’s currently owned by Fort Capital Group and there are plans to build a luxury resort there.

Billy McFarland

But after the escapades of Lehder and Escobar, there was another strange chapter to come for Norman’s Cay. In 2017 tech entrepreneur Billy McFarland approached the owners with an interesting proposition. He was planning a luxury music festival, you see, and wanted to host it on the island. After all, its desert-island aesthetic would certainly appeal to his Instagram-obsessed target market.

Conditions

Initially, the owners of Norman’s Cay agreed that McFarland could stage the event, known as Fyre Festival, on the island. But there was one condition that needed to be adhered to. At no point, they insisted, could the organizers or promoters mention Pablo Escobar or the Medellín Cartel.

Promoting Fyre Festival

For years, Norman’s Cay had been trying to escape from the shadow of its past — and the owners certainly didn’t want a tawdry advertising campaign tying them to Escobar. Unfortunately, though, that’s exactly what they got. In order to promote his festival, McFarland gathered a team of models and social media stars and flew them out to the Bahamian island.

A broken agreement

The resulting footage of beautiful people frolicking on yachts and playing in the ocean certainly got people’s attention. And so did another claim that featured in the promotional videos: that Fyre Festival would take place on an island that’d once been the property of Escobar. McFarland, it turned out, had ignored the conditions laid out by the owners of Norman’s Cay.

Unmitigated failure

Angry at this breach of contract, the owners refused to let McFarland use the island. So with just four months to go, the organizers scrambled to secure another site, ultimately settling on nearby Great Exuma. But as there was so little time left to install infrastructure, Fyre Festival was an unmitigated failure. Five years on, it’s still considered one of the most disastrous events ever held.

Evocative wreck

Norman’s Cay, then, has had something of a dramatic past, evolving from sleepy island to drug-runners’ paradise and playing a role in one of the music industry’s biggest fiascos. But for those who visit this corner of the Bahamas, there are few sights more evocative than the wreck of a World War II plane. And we’re sure it’ll continue to inspire stories for many years to come.