Tony Montana was a former Cuban soldier who was imprisoned in Cuba along with his friends Angel and Manny. He later fled and departed to Miami as a Cuban refugee in the Mariel Boatlift in 1980. Wanting to build a criminal career, he initially worked for drug lord Frank Lopez and fell in love with the latter's girlfriend Elvira Hancock. Tony Montana eventually climbed the ranks of the criminal underworld to become one of the most powerful drug kingpins in Miami.n given.