The rise of one of North America’s biggest criminal organizations.
Kings of Coke, a three-part cinematic trilogy, traces how Montreal—a city best known as a carefree party capital—became ground zero for one of North America’s most formidable criminal empires.
Throughout the 1970s, Montreal recorded more bank robberies than New York or Los Angeles. Soon, that brazen ring of bank robbers turns from heists to the booming cocaine trade, destabilizing the underworld network and rewriting its criminal order. Exploiting the city’s busy port and proximity to the U.S. border, they transform a local operation into a vast international smuggling enterprise that endures until the turn of the millennium.
Each film delves into a distinct chapter of the story. The first charts the rise of the West End Gang—from a ragtag band of bank robbers to architects of one of the world’s most prolific cocaine trafficking networks. The second centers on Gerry Matticks, known to investigators only as “Beef,” exposing his shadowy, ruthless reign at the heart of the operation. The trilogy concludes with the elusive Rory Shayne, whose flamboyant exploits—prison breaks, violent standoffs, and hostage takings—culminate in his mysterious disappearance.
Blending the moody aesthetic of classic film noir with the grit of a pulp fiction graphic novel, Kings of Coke reveals the extraordinary real-life stories of key players—and the detectives and journalists who refused to let them win. It’s a rare glimpse into the hidden architecture of the criminal underworld and the way it seeps into—and corrodes—everyday life.