I hope that my story can prevent others from experiencing the loss of freedom due to momentary greed, just like I did. Here is my story:
At the age of 18, I was sentenced to nine months in prison for drug trafficking. Fortunately, I had the support of my family and girlfriend during that time. Although I lacked freedom, my life was less harsh than many others in prison. After my release, I made a conscious effort to stay grounded and avoid further disappointing or hurting my loved ones.
In 2018, I ran into my former inmate friend *Nigel at a bar while attending a friend’s gathering. He had taken care of me in prison, so we exchanged phone numbers and planned to hang out again. He frequently invited me out for drinks and would even pay for my friends. After a few sessions, I asked him how he could afford to hang out so often without a job and still have so much money to spend. He admitted to me that he was selling drugs.
When I asked Nigel if he was not afraid of going back to prison, he said he wasn’t worried because he never touched the drugs in person; he only arranged for delivery. He asked if I was interested in helping him, but I refused because I couldn’t take the risk of going back to prison again.
By the end of 2018, I had been hanging out with him for about six months. Even though I refused to help him distribute drugs, he still treated me kindly. At the time, I believed that it was acceptable to be friends with a gangster involved in drug trafficking as long as I wasn’t involved in it.
One day, Nigel told me that his partner had disappeared and couldn’t be found. A shipment of drugs had already arrived in Hong Kong, and the package might be confiscated if it remained unclaimed for too long. This would cause him to lose millions of dollars. Although I didn’t want him to suffer such a huge loss, I was too afraid to offer help. So, I declined his request again.
The boy would get the money to repay his debts, I would help *Nigel, and have an extra $10,000 at hand. It seemed like a perfect plan.
After a while, he came back to me and asked if I knew anyone who could help him claim the package. I eventually agreed to assist him by contacting someone who would sign for it and instruct that person on what to do. I thought to myself that since I wouldn’t be directly involved, it seemed safe to just receive a package. Whoever picked up the package would receive $30,000 for the task, and I would get $10,000 as a token of appreciation for helping him.
After searching for a while, I finally found a 17-year-old acquaintance to do the job. I chose him because he had asked me several times if I knew of any way to make quick money. He mentioned he had lost money from gambling and owed debts to his friends. The only reason he approached me was because he knew I was acquainted with Nigel. I had previously refrained from introducing him to such activities, but this time, I made an impulsive decision. The boy would get the money to repay his debts, I would help Nigel, and have an extra $10,000 at hand. It seemed like a perfect plan.
In the end, the boy was arrested as soon as he collected the package. The boy implicated me, claiming that I had instructed him to receive the package. In mid-2019, I was arrested and held in custody for over three years on charges of “conspiring to traffic dangerous drugs,” involving 1kg of Ketamine.
Note: This letter has been translated and edited from its original in Chinese. Switch language to read the original letter.