Always wondered that. If Sosa is at the top of the mountain so to speak in terms of power/influence, where was Frank before Tony came along? At their respective heights, who was more powerful - Tony or Frank?

Tony ended up being far more powerful then Frank. Remember, Tony ended up securing the direct importation of massive amounts of high quality cocaine via Sosa. And also Frank even admitted he preferred to stay under the radar for law enforcement so he was very low key. He also brought up what other king pins Would think if Frank imported all those Kilos from Sosa, so that means that Frank was also below Gaspar Gomez and the Diaz brothers. But at his peak Tony was the top dog.

See, I consider guys like Frank to be the more likable characters in such stories. Yeah, he went out like a bitch, but the guy survived on the streets for twenty years prior, had plenty of material comfort, and didn't die a drug addict junkie fuck. What'd Tony last, three years before getting popped off?

In the movie Frank was importing 100 kg a month from Sosa.

Tony was and able to make the deal with Sosa. Frank mainly dealt with marijuana and had weak connections to cocaine which is evident with the Sun Ray Hotel and Colombians, had legitimate business to launder the drug money. He was indeed lower than the Diaz brothers and Gomez who were big drug dealers, but Tony toppled them with his business dealings with Sosa.

Frank was not a thug. He had thugs around him to do dirty work. Frank fancied himself as a part of the community. The drug game afforded him the opportunity to create himself the way he wanted to be seen.

I always got the impression that Frank was a car dealer who dabbled in drugs as a sideline. Making deals with Colombians for a few kilos of cocaine etc.

I'd say he was powerful. He had 10 million dollars in cash he was offering up to Tony in an attempt to spare his life. That's no small timer. That's 30 mill in today's $$$$.

Was he? At their meeting Omar tells Sosa tat he's there to make a one-off purchase of 200kg. It was Tony who negotiated the 100kg a month deal, and Frank went ballistic when he heard about it. It was the end of their relationship, and it was Tony who went into partnership with Sosa.