The marijuana trade was a huge source of income for the town in the late 70's early 80s. It was a poorer town with a history of smuggling. Back in the days of prohibition, it was a rum smuggling town. In the 80s Alot of those white folks in Everglades City entered a new tax bracket overnight due to the marijuana trade. Similar to how you see inner city black dealers start to rock chains and expansive items in the 80s, you saw the same thing with these white smugglers who would by bigger trucks, bigger boats, stockpile of weapons, new homes etc. Of course it would all come crashing down when the feds got involved. Alot of the town was thrown in jail overnight. It was a mass sweep. Mind you this is a town of maybe 1000 residents at most at the time. One of the bartenders in the town spoke of some of the men in the town tipping him hundreds of dollars on a bill. The same bartender spoke of sitting on his porch just watching the authorities go by picking people up all over town during the sweep. He said he sat on his porch just waiting to be arrested.