How did I get involved in this drug trafficking case
Let’s start with my family background. Not long after my mother became pregnant with me, and due to the pressing need for money, my father was lured by a friend into committing fraud overseas and consequently sent to prison for a while.
After he came back my parents divorced. I ended up living with my grandmother, my father, and his girlfriend in a cramped public housing unit until my father went to work abroad. That was around the time when I was in primary school. He left me to live with my grandma ever since.
My family has only got elementary education, thus they couldn’t provide me with a nice growing environment. Most of the people I met were of low social status and the same level of education as I had.
I dropped out of high school, earning a living as a manual worker. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I became a part-time logistics worker for a supermarket. I worked in the daytime and went to a night school in the evening. My employer never paid me on time. I didn’t like it but it was hard to find another job at that moment. Coincidentally, one of my friends said he got a job for me. All I knew about the job was that I needed to deliver goods, something I excelled at because it didn’t require much mental effort. Besides, I thought it would be a good workout. I thought I would be doing the same as my existing job, just that I could have a better boss. So I accepted it without hesitation.
One night, I went to a quay as I’d been asked and loaded the goods from a boat onto the lorry. After work, I asked my friend, “What have I just loaded?” “DD”, he said. At that time I didn’t even know it meant “Dangerous Drugs”. So I asked him what it was exactly. He didn’t reply. Instead, he told me to stop asking so many questions, just to follow the instructions and he would pay me soon after.
Later that night, when I got home I tried to Google “DD”. But there were just some pictures coming up on the screen that looked like some sort of vaccination stuff. The descriptions were all in English and I couldn’t understand at all. So I just gave up my search.
The following night, I met up with my friend. He gave me a sack of money containing an amount that was nearly as much as I would earn before for an entire month. That was when I had no doubt I had done drug smuggling.
Shocked by the realization, I wanted to quit. But he then told me he was a triad member, and he also had a copy of my ID card and home address. Then I thought, “Well, I already got involved anyway, and I quit my job in the supermarket. My girlfriend has dumped me with contempt for being so poor. I want to have my own house. I want to live a better life.” Those were the thoughts that tempted me to give in. Nevertheless, those drug lords had already intended to set me up. So I was arrested shortly within a few days.
Life in prison
Since I’ve been behind bars, some of my friends have come to visit me several times and written me letters, but it hasn’t lasted long. Now there are just one or two of my family who would still care about me. But I really should be grateful because some of the inmates here don’t even have a relative to visit, so I’m kind of lucky in comparison. It made me realize that family is much more important than friends, which I used to think was the other way around.
It’s been tough living without freedom. I can’t eat whatever I feel like. Instead of a high-class restaurant, I just want to have a McDonald’s meal; I can’t listen to my favorite music. There aren’t mobile phones or computers, only a pocket radio with crappy earphones, both of which need to be purchased. There have been times when the radio plays the songs that I listened to when outside, and I couldn’t fight back the tears with the overwhelming sense of loss.
Most of the people here are gangsters. The similarity between me and them is that we are also from the bottom of the social class and we have committed a crime. The difference is that I don’t join any gang. I don’t waste time messing around. Instead, I keep studying hard and learning English. Through the radio and the dictionary my family bought me. I’ve learned the pronunciation and phonetic symbols all on my own. So far I’ve read 3 English books. My ultimate target is to finish at least 200 books before my release. There’s still a long way to go, but I truly believe that I’m going to make it someday.
Warning to others
During these years, I’ve benefited greatly from reading, observing, and reflecting on my failures. Therefore, I’d like to share my advice to hopefully help readers stay away from prison, especially the teenagers who may be as foolish as I was.
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- We can only possess the sum of money that is equivalent to our effort. If anybody covets what they don’t deserve, they’ll learn the consequences of tasting the forbidden fruit. Even if they make it by chance at first, it won’t last long. Just like building a skyscraper without laying the foundations. It will fall eventually, won’t it?
- Friendships are way more shallow than you could imagine. Most of them are just fair-weather friends that won’t stand the test. When it comes to benefits or the right situation, things are easier said than done. That’s why family should be more important than friends. Nevertheless, you are the one that should always come first, because nobody can think for you and nobody knows you better than yourself.
The reasons for my mistake were because of my youthful stupidity, ignorance, and greed. If I had listened to my family, not hung out in the streets; not taken drugs; stayed in school, or even just read instead of playing video games all the time, I wouldn’t be trapped in prison right now, and my family wouldn’t be suffering and blaming themselves.
Although I can’t go back to the past to give myself a slap across the face and change history, I can value the present time as a window of opportunity to study, so that I’ll become wiser and more capable in the future. Hopefully, I can give a better life to my children.
Thank you very much for reading this letter!
Note: This letter has been edited to improve grammar.
