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MONEY WORRIES

enough for the tourists to have a good time with. Most of them weren’t doing it to sell, they just wanted to get their hands on some pure cocaine.

Obviously, there was always some risk involved; customs do have sniffer dogs and X-ray machines. However, with millions of letters from overseas being processed each day, they can’t check every single item closely. Sniffer dogs are also very expensive to train and the authorities are more likely to concentrate their efforts on bigger parcels, or at airports and seaports. Why would they look for a few grams being sent by standard envelope, when there are tonnes of the stuff being smuggled in by plane and boat? And even if the cops found the envelope, they would still have to prove in court who was responsible. This would have been difficult, since the envelopes were usually addressed to a false name at an abandoned building or a post office box. Sometimes I would send it to someone’s apartment, but always in the name of a previous tenant.

Of course, these precautions didn’t make it one hundred per cent safe. The authorities aren’t stupid. When they do intercept drugs, they often allow them through and then put surveillance on your house. The best way around that was to write 'Return to Sender' on the envelope as soon as you received it, and then leave it on your kitchen bench for a few weeks. The worst thing you could do was to ring all your friends and tell them to come around for a big party.

Customers placed orders for my special envelopes by phone or by email. Up-front payment was sent by telegraphic transfer in the name of one of the inmates’ wives, who would pick up the cash and bring it to San Pedro for a small propina. I would then send the envelopes out to be deposited in a street mailbox. During the whole time I did this, no one ever got busted. A few of the envelopes didn’t arrive, but I suspect that’s because some of those customs agents had their sniffer dogs trained not to bark too loudly when they found something.