Sheriff’s deputies sue Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company over The Rip

A Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputy has sued the production company behind Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Netflix film The Rip, saying the movie distorted a real narcotics investigation and damaged the reputations of officers who worked it. The complaint, filed in Coral Gables in early May 2026, puts a labor-and-liability fight at the center of a high-profile production built around a real police raid and the off-duty law enforcement personnel who helped shape it.

The plaintiff, Jonathan Santana, was credited with solving the Miami Lakes drug case that inspired the film, and the suit also references Jason Smith as the other officer involved in the original investigation. Santana says the movie falsely portrays the officers as corrupt and has exposed him to taunts about stealing money. His attorney, Ignacio Alvarez, argues that Artists Equity should have hired Santana and Smith as consultants instead of another officer who was not part of the investigation.

The Rip was released on Netflix on January 16, 2026, and Artists Equity describes it as a story about Miami cops whose trust frays after they discover millions in cash in a derelict stash house. The film is loosely tied to a 2016 Miami-Dade drug raid that turned up about $24 million hidden in a house, a seizure described in prior reporting as the largest cash haul in South Florida history. Investigators found money stuffed in Home Depot buckets and in attic space, and the case was linked to a marijuana trafficking operation that extended beyond Miami-Dade County.

The dispute has also drawn city-level backlash. Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo publicly criticized the film’s portrayal of the area and of law enforcement, while officials said the actual raid took place in Miami Lakes, not Hialeah. NBC 6 South Florida reported that Hialeah was exploring legal options against the makers of the film. The challenge now facing Artists Equity, the studio co-founded by Affleck, Damon and Gerry Cardinale, goes beyond creative license. It raises the question of how productions use real officers to lend authenticity, then manage the fallout when a dramatized version of their work spills back into their professional lives.