According to CBS Miami investigative journalist Jim DeFede, last Friday's funeral home shooting in North Miami, with assault rifles and a handgun, that wounded twelve and killed two "was one of the worst mass shootings in South Florida history." Opa Locka City Manager Bryan Finnie, in a state of disbelief, told Jim: "This is totally new. Funeral homes, churches have been sacrosanct." Well, it's not totally new.
On July 1st 1981, Jorge "Rivi" Ayala, lead enforcer for Griselda "La Madrina" Blanco (aka "The Black Widow"), murdered a drug rival of the cocaine queenpin under similar circumstances. Reading the Miami Herald that morning, Rivi discovered that Oscar Piedrahita was having a wake at his home in Miami Lakes for his young son who had drowned in a swimming pool. Piedrahita was one of the "top five" on Blanco's hit list since he'd allegedly kidnapped one of The Godmother's sons in Colombia -- and now Rivi and his "little friend" (a MAC-11) knew just where to find him. Watch Cocaine Cowboys deleted scene above to find out what happened.
This tactic was cruel but effective since enforcers could easily locate their targets and guarantee where they would be. As Rivi says, "It was kinda sad, but business is business."