South London Gangster in Colombia
SUMMARY: This story of John Rowley, a British conman / gangster and old friend of The Mick, includes famous heists, jaw-dropping excess and drug abuse, prison, and an early death.
Alternate Title: Old Prison Pal of The Mick Lives Fast, Dies Young
The Mick first heard of John Rowley in his days as a heroin-addicted thief on the streets of London. Both worked among the criminal underworld of petty crime and bank robberies. The Mick had heard of an established gunman named John Rowley but didn’t meet him until their paths crossed in Colombia.
In The Mick’s words, John Rowley was a conman and playboy who’d charm anybody he met while relieving them of value, then would turn around and spend everything he stole with anybody around him on amazing excess. This story of John Rowley is entirely based on what he told The Mick and what The Mick saw with his own eyes. … Read more
Smuggling Contraband from Colombia
SUMMARY: I smuggled a bunch of contraband into the States from Colombia for my holiday visit. Read how I got and brought Marijuana, Cocaine, Steroids, and Sinalgen (Colombian Vicodin).
Marijuana
I was to arrive in St. Louis just before Thanksgiving, where some of the men in the family always burn one after dinner. It’s usually the same guys who provide the jibber, which I realized as I was staring at a pile of cheap-ass Colombian marijuana on my counter. So I stuffed a fat bud into the pocket of one of the artesania handbags I bought as Christmas presents (which are among the finer products from Colombia, but not this weed). … Read more
My 1st Time Bribing Cops in Colombia
SUMMARY: The Mick and I got busted smoking a joint in Chapinero, so we paid our way out of it.
November 22, around 10am, I ran into The Mick at the bike repair shop in Chapinero on the west side of Avenida Caracas. The west side of Chapinero is a poorer, ghetto section that features 7 de agosto and a drugs-and-prostitution district. The shop’s located on an OK block where there isn’t anything to worry about during the day.
The guys usually have our bikes ready within an hour so we usually wait. After The Mick dropped his bike off, I saw him striking a match with a joint fatter than his nose hanging from his lips all the way down past his chin. We walked down the block. … Read more
Scopolamine in Colombia
SUMMARY: Scopolamine is a powerful sedative commonly used in robberies, assaults, and rapes in Colombia. It’s like GHB but worse. In this post, I tell a few scopolamine stories and discuss the urban legend facets.
Scopolamine, also known as Burundanga, is a powerful sedative extracted from the Brugmansia plant, which is native to Colombia. Scopolamine is commonly used as a central nervous system depressant in patch form to treat nausea, seasickness, motion sickness, and less commonly in treatments of Parkinson’s symptoms and in anesthesia. Scopolamine is starting to attract attention for its potential in treating addiction, specifically nicotine.
Scopolamine comes with a slew of side effects ranging from dry mouth and impaired speech, amnesia, excitement and restlessness, to hallucinations and delirium. In years past it was used in conjunction with painkillers to induce Twilight Sleep, which relieves pain during childbirth while keeping the patient awake. Scopolamine was studied by the Nazis and a few intelligence agencies during the Cold War as a truth drug. In very rare cases, scopolamine is used as a recreational drug for its hallucinogenic side effects. The chemical extract is highly toxic, so non-medical use is dangerous. The prescribed uses call for as little as 330 micrograms. … Read more
A Little Background on The Mick
SUMMARY: Some character development on The Mick is in order. This post has a slew of shorts about his past, his alcoholism, his taste in women, his slang, etc.
The Mick and I have been hanging out almost every day in planning a new business. I’m getting to know him pretty well. It’s strange, but I already consider him a good friend. I want to see him stay off the booze and out of trouble. I want to make a ton of money together. And I’d like to be able to send him back to Ireland someday. Maybe I’ll go too.
One reason we get along is that we have so much in common. It’s uncanny sometimes. If you could somehow tweak my personality wiring to de-emphasize education and ambition while strengthening alcoholism and drug abuse, then The Mick would be a spitting image of me in 20 years. … Read more
The Mick’s Prison Murder
SUMMARY: The Mick participated in murdering a fellow inmate during the first year of his 4-year sentence in Colombian prison. This is the story.
WARNING: There’s graphic violence in this story. Women, children, parents, nuns, clergy – you’ve been warned. If you don’t want to read grisly prison violence, then do NOT click:
