Ricardo Diaz (22 May 1942-10 July 1986) was a Colombian drug baron who led the powerful Diaz Cartel of Miami, Florida during the early 1980s. Diaz was known for his hot temper and his extravagant lifestyle, and he was killed by one of his own associates, Tommy Vercetti, in 1986.
Biography[]
Diaz and Vercetti in 1986
Ricardo Diaz was born in 1942 in Colombia, and he immigrated to the United States in 1978 after bribing the INS for a green card. Diaz became the head of the Diaz Cartel, an operation that smuggled cocaine from South America into the Port of Miami in Florida, and he built a mansion for himself on Star Island along the MacArthur Causeway. He was surrounded by several trusted bodyguards and enforcers, and he forced the Washington Mall and other businesses to pay protection money, becoming a millionaire. Diaz was suspected of executing eighteen murders and establishing a protection racket in Miami; in 1986, he stole both drugs and money from a drug deal involving Sonny Forelli's representative Tommy Vercetti and the independent drug lord Victor Vance.
Downfall[]
Diaz begging for mercy from Lance Vance and Tommy Vercetti
Vercetti would work for Diaz in hopes of gaining his trust and taking over Miami, and Victor's brother Lance Vance worked as Vercetti's partner during his rise to power. However, Vance messed up Vercetti's plan by attempting to take on Diaz alone, forcing Vercetti to rescue Vance before meeting him at the bridge on Star Island. The two of them proceeded to storm Diaz's mansion with automatic rifles, and the two of them entered the mansion and gunned Diaz down at the top of his staircase. Diaz insulted the two, telling Vercetti that he could have "had him made", but Vance and Vercetti both shot him in the head with pistols as he lay on the ground.