Refine Search

A Drug Smuggler’s Search for Contentment

I SET out on my six-hour journey through the rugged Latin-American countryside. The early morning sun gave promise of another hot day. Even so, the 20-kg backpack caused me little discomfort.a I had done this many times before. Trailing behind me were my 18 cargadores (packmen), each with his own valuable load. What was so valuable? Coca leaves, to make cocaine.

As I pushed my way through thick foliage I reflected on my skill as a smuggler. Suddenly my reverie was shattered by gunfire! The fear flashed through my mind, “Trapped by the border police!” However, I made my escape. Others in my group did not fare so well. Three were caught and could expect prison terms, a fourth was wounded and later died.

Why would I endanger my life smuggling narcotics? To escape poverty. I was one of 12 children born to a humble carpenter. By the time I was six my father’s health had deteriorated due to the burden of providing for so many children. Economically, we went from little to less.

Four years later I was working in the fields near our home. The pay was minimal and the days endless. I lost count of the times mother attended to my bruised knees and cut hands. How I longed for a good life, to be happy and free of need!

The chance came when I turned 16. My brother-in-law ran drugs across the border, and he asked me to work with him. I grew dizzy with visions of the possibilities. “A great hiker like me,” I thought, “could make a fortune.”

By experience I soon learned the ropes. Some friends and I began to forge a number of routes through the heavily wooded hills. We selected various key points to cross the river that formed the border. This would confuse the patrolling guards, since we would not always cross at the same place. Usually our timing coincided with the arrival of the prearranged truck. But even here the danger of discovery was ever present. Three times I narrowly escaped capture.

At the outset of my career of drug smuggling I came to know a young woman and soon we were living together. Although I had a certain affection for her, I never considered being tied down by a legal marriage. Even after two children were born to us, my attitude remained unchanged. She worried constantly about my health and safety.

Shamefully, I can recall a number of times when I would come home in a condition anything but sober and spark a controversy that would lead to blows. How egotistical I had become! I was blinded by my mania to become rich.

In those years a 20-kg bundle of coca leaves brought the equivalent of $125 (U.S.) on the foreign market. A laborer in my village made only $1 (U.S.) a day, while I squandered thousands of pesos on lavish meals and women companions. It made me feel important, but was I truly content?

During those turbulent days I answered the sound of clapping hands (the equivalent of ringing a doorbell in other countries). A foreign visitor stood at my front gate. After a short discussion he left me an issue of Awake! magazine. Throughout the following months I would return home from my trips to find that more issues had appeared. I ignored them for a time, until I came across one that I just could not put down. I must find the gringo with Awake!

The search didn’t take long. Rolf Grankvist, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, had started a Bible study with two of my brothers, and I lost no time in inviting myself to the next session. Various subjects were discussed from the Bible. I found the consideration refreshing and inquired about a personal Bible study in my home for my family.

Another Witness, a local baker, was sent. Naturally, my first question was about trafficking in contraband coca. “What does the Bible say about that?” I queried. Kindly, but firmly, he outlined the reasons why this would not be acceptable to God. Among the scriptures used was 1 John 4:20 (‘he who does not love his brother, whom he sees, cannot be loving God, whom he cannot see’). The message was clear: it would be hypocritical to say one loves God while working to do injury to one’s fellowman.

This set me to wondering. My activity was certainly unacceptable to God, but why hadn’t my priest told me this? He knew that I and others were smuggling narcotics.

I faced the realities. My health was worsening, my family relationship was poor, and I lacked contentment. I asked myself frankly, “Can you really make the break?” I had recently become more deeply involved, having made arrangements to process the coca into cocaine. But I drew strength from my decision to serve Jehovah, and told my partners I was quitting. They were dumbfounded and angry. But I held firmly to my decision​—no more trafficking in drugs!

As my knowledge increased I sensed that the problems that had entangled my life were coming unknotted. I read Hebrews 13:4: “Let marriage be honorable among all, and the marriage bed be without defilement, for God will judge fornicators and adulterers.” So I took steps to legalize our common-law relationship. I studied the chapter on “Building a Happy Family Life” in the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. Application of that material increased the respect my wife and I showed for each other, and our sons thrived on the more peaceful and loving atmosphere in our home. Hebrews 10:25 counseled about “not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together.” Complying with that admonition contributed to our family’s spirituality. In January of 1976 I dedicated my life to Jehovah.

The preaching activity swelled the ranks of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The local priest, who had never denounced the smuggling of drugs, now became incensed by the Witnesses’ teaching the people the good news of God’s kingdom. Each Sunday on his radio program he railed against the Witnesses. His efforts backfired. The attention he thus drew to our work contributed toward the 200-percent increase we enjoyed over the next four years.

Due to the growing bond of affection between my wife and me, and knowing that I had cut all ties to drug trafficking, much curiosity was stirred up among my relatives. At first some watched, anticipating an early reversal of these reforms. As we continued to make progress in living by Bible principles, however, curiosity turned to interest. How happy it made us to see two of my brothers and their wives become Jehovah’s Witnesses! I also have had the added joy of serving as an overseer in our local congregation.

Not long ago I was able to review the many twists and turns my life has taken. Memories of my past coursed through my mind as I struggled over the difficult terrain, a well-laden packhorse by my side. Closely behind me were my two companions encouraging their pack animals along as well. Had the desire for fast money by smuggling overtaken me again? Far from it. Those loads on the pack animals contained not a single coca leaf! Rather, my companions and I were carrying Bibles and Bible study aids earmarked for the farmers living deep in the hill country.​—Contributed.

[Footnotes]

[Blurb on page 14]

The fear flashed through my mind, “Trapped by the border police!”

[Blurb on page 15]

Hypocritical to say that one loves God while working to do injury to one’s fellowman

[Blurb on page 16]

I held firmly to my decision​—no more trafficking in drugs!

[Picture on page 15]

From smuggling coca leaves to transporting Bible literature

[Pictures on page 16]

Smuggling this . . . or preaching this?

Coca leaves