Who shot Don Aronow?

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When the news of Aronow's murder broke, many suspected a disgruntled husband had pulled the trigger. Aronow's talent for weaving an intricate web of suitors and enemies was not confined to his private life, it was also prevelant in his business dealings.

Donzi was sold almost as quickly as Formula, and Magnum Marine quickly followed suit; but when commisioned to build a 32 foot powerboat by Cary Marine - Aronow came up with a fitting legacy: the Cigarette. Talking of his new craft, Don is quoted as saying, "It was a brute of a boat and was virtually uncontrollable, but it flew in big seas. Ripping through six foot waves at nearly 80 mph in an era when 70 mph was considered fast on flat water. If you could keep the deck pointed upright, nothing could touch it!"

Taking the name for the craft from a famous hijacking boat during the Prohibition era, and the fact the name become synonymous with craft running cocaine and marijuana in the Gulf of Mexico, gave some clue as to the areas in which Aronow conducting business.

As the Miami party scene rocked on the ready availability of illicit recreational substances, and society reeled under the ensuing savagery of the drug wars, South Florida's most notorious smugglers were regularly caught ferrying their powder cargoes in craft that had rolled off the Cigarette production line.

Suspected as a drug-smuggler and money launderer himself, with supposed links to the Genovese Purple Gang of New York and Meyer Lansky's crime syndicate, Aronow's role in marijuana smuggling was reportedly confirmed by Bill Norris, head of the Major Narcotics Unit at the Miami U.S. Attorney's office; the top federal drug prosecution official in south Florida.

As Aronow's list of high-profile international clients continued to grow, the CIA apparently grew interested; they were focussing on his relationship with foreign leaders who liked fast boats. But Aranow was not alone, the rest of the local racing scene was also undergoing scrutiny.

In 1982 the Sun-Sentinel newspaper in Fort Lauderdale ran an expose, listing 13 racing drivers involved in the distribution of drugs. Needless to say, the FBI, the Coast Guard, and the IRS became acuteley interested in Aronow's customers.

In a classic case of running with the hounds and the hares, Aronow became friends with one George H.W. Bush - who became a customer after they reportedly met at a boat show in 1974. Later during his ‘War on Drugs' in 1988, it was Vice President Bush who stated, "I will never bargain with drug dealers on U.S. or foreign soil." However, earlier on 4th January 1984, after delivering a similar speech at the Omni International Hotel in Miami in the morning, Bush met with Aronow at Islamorada in the Florida Keys.

There Aronow waited on a new ‘Blue Thunder' catamaran, a design he had discussed with Bush whilst out fishing the previous year. The pair then left Islamorada for a thrilling ride back to Miami - accompanied by Bush's Secret Service bodyguards riding in Cigarette boats confiscated from drug smugglers!

As the authorities struggled to cope with a new breed of performance craft, they too turned to Aronow to provide them with a craft to hunt and catch the smugglers.

With great pomp and ceremony, the lucrative contract for Blue Thunders at $150,000 a pop was announced - influenced it is said by Vice President Bush.

Surprisingly, these multi-hulls weren't up to the task of hunting down the 80mph+ Cigarette craft designed by Aronow, a company he had sold on some time earlier.

The Blue Thunder contract however did not come without its own headaches for Aronow - and some say it is the circumstances surrounding it that led to his demise. In 1985 Don Aronow sold USA Racing, the company who produced Blue Thunder to Ben Krammer, a race boat driver with a conviction for marijuana smuggling in 1977.

Krammer's first smuggling boat was a secondhand yellow Cigarette he named Mellow Yellow, but after a spell in jail he re-emerged with connections to the Columbian drug cartels.

On his release from prison Krammer approached Aronow for help and was given the plans to build the Apache Warpath, which he victoriously raced in the 1984 World Offshore Powerboat Championships.

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