Is Netflix’s Turn of the Tide based on real story? Details explored as Season 2 drops 

Netflix’s Turn of the Tide might feel like an outrageous work of fiction but its wild premise of cocaine washing ashore on a small island has roots in reality. The show’s mix of crime and coastal life draws inspiration from a true event that shocked Portugal in the early 2000s.

The series is named after the Azorean village of Rabo de Peixe in São Miguel Island, which spiralled into chaos after a boatload of cocaine washed ashore in 2001.

Netflix has just dropped the second season of this critically acclaimed drama series, which follows a young fisherman named Eduardo, who discovers a ton of cocaine and starts selling it with his friends. However, trouble soon follows Eduardo and his friends when the dr*g lord begins his frantic search to get his cargo back.

While Netflix's Turn of the Tide features a fictional premise and characters, it is inspired by a true story, where 505.84 kilograms of pure cocaine washed up on a small fishing town's shore.

More on this in our story.

The shocking true story behind Netflix's Turn of the Tide

Netflix's Turn of the Tide, being dubbed as Portugal’s most popular television series ever, is shockingly based on a true story.

The astonishing tale dates back to June 2001, when Antonino Quinci, a Sicilian dr*g dealer, was headed to the Balearic Islands on his cruise ship. While he planned to dock in Spain, his journey was challenging due to big lumps of Atlantic swell that had damaged his boat's rudder. Naturally, he was forced to dock, but he couldn't go to the harbour yet as his boat contained 505.84 kilograms of uncut and pure cocaine, worth over 150 million euros at 2023's prices.

Antonino Quinci had to discard the dr*g first, which is when he sank over half a metric ton of his expensive cargo with fishing nets and chains. As he sailed to the nearest harbour, high tides worked their magic and the uncut cocaine surfaced in a small fishing town called Rabo de Peixe (which is the original title for Netflix's Turn of the Tide).

Rabo de Peixe's fate after this 'Turn of the Tide'

Since a majority of the population on the São Miguel Islands depends on fishing for their livelihood, it did not take long for the people of Rabo de Peixe to discover the brick-like treasure washed up on their town's shore. Like Netflix's Turn of the Tide, Antonino Quinci's cargo was first spotted by some fishermen, who immediately alerted the authorities. Reportedly, local officers from the area discovered '270 packages of uncut cocaine, weighing 290kg.'

However, this dr*g-filled fiasco was just starting to unfold at the shores of Rabo de Peixe and bystanders continued to discover more packages of this expensive white powder. Naturally, not everyone was as law-abiding as those initial fishermen and greed took over the people of Rabo de Peixe, once they realised the worth of this mysterious substance.

Soon, Rabo de Peixe became the hub of dr*g consumption and trade and the white powder was being sold in every nook and corner, concealed in socks, clothes, beer and plastic bags. Locals were selling Antonino Quinci's 80% pure dr*g for a bargain price of 25 euros per full glass of beer.

People who were unaware of its true nature mistook it for sugar and flour and used it for baking and cooking, as depicted in Netflix's Turn of the Tide. While women laced their fish with cocaine and men stirred it into their coffee, the entire town gradually slipped into addiction.

As depicted in Netflix's Turn of the Tide, many villagers fell sick after dr*g consumption and some of them even ended up dead. Even decades after this shocking tale, many locals of Rabo de Peixe remain addicted to cocaine and have now shifted to its cheap alternatives.

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Turn of the Tide Season 2 is streaming on Netflix.

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