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BANGED UP ABROAD: HELLHOLE

What was the coke we were going to carry going to do to the people it was supplied to? If a few tokes could do that to Paul, what was ten kilos capable of?

We calmed down a bit after that – in fact, it felt like the moment when the holiday came to an end.

We had started to get a very uneasy feeling about the whole operation. What was going off? We knew these people had been watching us from day one, but as the last day approached and we got nearer to our journey home, our fear escalated.

Then, suddenly, we got a phone call telling us the arrangement was off.

Paul called the Russian direct, saying, 'Look, we've got no money left; you can't just leave us here to rot. Are you telling me that we need to wait here another three days, that the package isn't ready?'

It was torture. We just wanted to get on with it and get home.

* * *

After another three agonising days of waiting, neither of us slept much the night before we were due to leave Caracas and fly back to England. Apparently, the arrangement was on again, but the last-minute change of plan had left us feeling even more doubtful about it all. We lay there, tossing and turning all night, sweating and panicking