As part of the Medellín Cartel, Lehder used the island as a transshipment base for smuggling cocaine into the United States.

In order to protect the island, armed guards and attack dogs patrolled the beaches and runway, and radar was employed.

Carlos Toro, a friend of Lehder's who worked as a representative for the Medellín Cartel, remembered that "Norman's Cay was a playground.

"[3] Marine biologist Richard E. Novak, the island's former dive master, fought back, waging a heroic but ultimately futile one-man war to liberate Norman's Cay.

Not until 1982, under pressure from US law enforcement, and despite years of turning a blind eye, did the Bahamian government begin to crack down on the island's drug smuggling operations.