The Miami-Dade cops demand defamation damages from Falco Pictures and Artists Equity


NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 13: (L-R) Ben Affleck and Matt Damon attend Netflix's "The Rip" New York Premiere at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on January 13, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/WireImage)

The Miami-Dade narcotics officers who seized $22 million stashed in orange buckets in 2016 are suing the production companies of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck for defamation, saying the Netflix police thriller “The Rip,” inspired by their high-profile bust, falsely portrayed them as corrupt.

Filed Tuesday in a Florida federal district court, the lawsuit names as defendants Artists Equity, the production company founded by Damon and Affleck, as well as co-producer Falco Pictures, their one-off LLC for the project. Damon and Affleck were co-leads on “The Rip,” as well as co-producers.

The plaintiffs, Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana, are seeking unspecified damages for defamation, defamation by implication and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A spokesperson for Netflix, which is not named as a defendant, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.

The police thriller was marketed as “inspired by true events,” but the lawsuit says the movie borrowed heavily from a real June 29, 2016 Miami-Dade narcotics investigation in which officers discovered nearly $22 million in cash hidden in orange buckets behind a false wall inside a Miami Lakes home. The plaintiffs say the film recreated several distinctive details from the case while falsely depicting the officers involved as corrupt and criminal.

Smith and Santana allege that anyone familiar with the case easily connected them to the fictional officers portrayed by Damon and Affleck. The lawsuit claims family members, colleagues and even prosecutors questioned the officers after seeing the film or its trailer, asking “which character they were” and “how many buckets they kept.”

The suit says the actual 2016 seizure — the largest cash seizure in Miami-Dade Police Department history — involved officers lawfully discovering $21,970,411 hidden in orange buckets concealed behind drywall. The complaint states Santana was the lead detective on the case while Smith supervised the operation.

The officers say “The Rip” added fabricated plotlines involving police corruption, theft schemes, cartel dealings and murder. The complaint cites scenes in which officers discuss stealing seized money, lying to suspects, concealing evidence from superiors and communicating directly with cartel members. The suit also alleges the film depicts officers tied to the seizure as being implicated in the murder of a fellow officer and later killing a DEA agent.

The officers say they warned the filmmakers before and after “The Rip” was released, sending a cease-and-desist letter in December 2025 objecting to the trailer and promotional materials. The complaint further alleges that a Miami-Dade officer who consulted on the film later contacted the plaintiffs on behalf of director Joe Carnahan to apologize and offer consulting opportunities on a future project.

Affleck and Damon founded Artists Equity in 2022 with financial backing from RedBird Capital. Affleck serves as chief executive officer while Damon is chief creative officer.

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