Cliff King was the head of transportation ("nothing moves without me") for the Carrera cocaine empire, using his connections with Commandante Emilio Salazar and network of landing areas to move the drugs efficiently into Miami. King is also a stone-cold killer and will do so for money anytime. Carrera hired King to kill one of his rivals, Miguel Manolo, in 1988, prompting his brother, Ernesto El Gato Manolo, to seek revenge, and launching a full-scale drug war. King had been a faithful servant for Carrera for many years, but looked on with both admiration and jealousy at his "competition", Sonny Burnett (who worked for Manolo), as he moved up the power scale and placed himself in position (at a propitious moment) to seize control of the entire cartel. King, seeing this, made overtures towa