The rumor of actor George Clooney’s interest in producing a film about a ring of drug-smuggling Coronado teens in the 1970s has raised some eyebrows in this quiet oceanfront community. Especially those of Gary Carter and Joe Ditler, who graduated from Coronado High in 1967 and ’70, respectively.
They were schoolmates of the marijuana peddling students who started small, sometimes just swimming across the Mexican border with 20 to 25 pounds strapped to their backs. After recruiting their Spanish teacher as a translator and eventual ringleader, however, their trade expanded in scope and size. They reportedly had grossed close to $100 million over 10 years before members were caught and prosecuted.
Ditler, a Coronado historian and PR guy, and Carter, a college instructor, began writing a book nine years ago on the illicit operation, dubbed “The Coronado Company.” But locals weren’t anxious to talk about “Coronado’s dirty little secret,” says Ditler.
