Dennis Howard Marks (August 13, 1945 - April 10, 2016) is a Welsh drug dealer and writer who achieved fame as an international marijuana smuggler through a high profile court case. At its peak it claims to have smuggled 30 tonnes of drug deliveries, and is connected to diverse groups such as the CIA, the IRA, the MI6, and the Mafia. He was eventually convicted by the US Drug Abuser Administration and handed over 25 years to be served in Terre Haute; he was released in April 1995 after serving seven years. Although he has up to 43 different aliases, he is known as "Mr. Nice" after he purchased a passport from the defendant Donald Nice. After his release from prison, he published his best-selling autobiography, Mr. Good , and publicly campaigned for changes in drug laws.
Video Howard Marks
Early life and education
Marks was born in Kenfig Hill, near Bridgend, Wales, son of Dennis Marks, a captain in Merchant Navy, and Edna, a teacher. Raised as a Baptist, he later turned to Buddhism, though he did not become a devout follower. He studied at Garw Grammar school in Pontycymer. He is an eloquent Welsh speaker.
He had a place in Balliol College, Oxford, after he made Russell Meiggs interested in the interview, and read physics there from 1964 to 1967. At university, he was first introduced into cannabis by Denys Irving. After his friend, Joshua Macmillan (son of Maurice Macmillan) died, Marks vowed to get involved with hard drugs. Among his other friends at Balliol were epidemiologists Julian Peto and journalist Lynn Barber. Through a mixture of cheating and last-minute cramming, he passed the final exam; this is despite months of taking drugs rather than attending classes and a serious infection that he developed several weeks before the exam.
In 1967 he began his teacher training, and married Ilze Kadegis, a Latvian student at St. Anne's College, Oxford, who also trained to become a teacher. He relinquished his teacher training to continue his studies at the University of London (1967-68; Grad Inst P.), then returned to Balliol, Oxford (1968-69; Dip HPh Sc), and then proceeded to the University of Sussex (1969-70) to studying the philosophy of science.
Maps Howard Marks
The drug empire
Despite being involved with drugs at the university, he sold marijuana only to friends or acquaintances until 1970, when he was persuaded to help Graham Plinston, who had been arrested in Germany on drug trafficking charges. Through Plinston he met Mohammed Durrani, a Pakistani hemp exporter who is a descendant of Durranis who ran Afghanistan in the 19th century. With Plinston behind bars, Durrani offered Marks a chance to sell the drug on a large scale in London, and he agreed to his proposal. He formed a four-way partnership with Charlie Radcliffe, Charlie Weatherly and a dealer named Jarvis. Durrani never contacted them, so the group acquired hashish in smaller quantities from various sources and began selling the drug in Oxford, Brighton and London. After six months, he returned to Germany to help free Plinston from prison. Signs are a useful way to transfer money because he does not have a criminal record.
Now, a free man, Plinston gave Marks a job carrying marijuana in Frankfurt; Marks in turn hired a New Zealand smuggler named Lang as his driver. After paying Marks Ã, £ 5,000 for his work in Frankfurt, Plinston then sells marijuana to Marks and his three friends (Radcliffe, Weatherly and Jarvis) in London; in sales of 650 kilos a week, the four men made a profit of £ 20,000. Durrani then arranged for marijuana to be smuggled into the furniture of Pakistani diplomats who moved to London; Marks would then intercept the furniture to find the drugs - this arrangement gave him a profit of £ 7,500. Marks expanded his company, employing two friends from Wales, Mike Bell and David Thomas, to store drugs and help with transportation. The gang became dissatisfied with the way the profits were shared (80% of the money they earned went to Durrani) and contacted James McCann, a sniper for the Temporary Irish Republican Army (IRA). Marks and Plinston persuade McCann to smuggle hashish to Ireland from Kabul, which would then be brought to Wales and into England; McCann will take the drug to Ireland via freeport at Shannon Airport using his IRA connection. Marks avoids the attention of HM Revenue and Customs by creating a paper trail that shows he makes his money from selling stamps and dresses.
In 1972, he earned  £ 50,000 with each shipment. At the end of the year he was approached by Hamilton McMillan of Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), a friend of the University of Oxford, who recruited Marks to work for MI6 for his relations in the hashish producing countries of Lebanon, Pakistan and Afghanistan. , because of her ability to seduce women, and to her contacts with the IRA. The following year, Marks began exporting marijuana to the United States to the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, hiding drugs in British fictional pop musical instruments that were supposed to be touring the country; he further expanded his operations with other smugglers and other trading methods, often using his Oxford connections. Because McCann was threatened with being executed by IRA, MI6 had to inform them of his involvement in drugs, Marks then stopped smuggling operations at Shannon airport. After Littlejohn's affair, MI6 stopped their relationship with Marks, while his American operations ended after police opened a marijuana speaker and arrested gang member James Gater, leading to another arrest in Europe. Marks was arrested by Dutch police in 1973, but passed in April 1974; the British press later made him a nationally known figure, reporting that he was feared being kidnapped by the IRA for his relationship with MI6. With most of his wealth confiscated by the authorities, he went to Italy, where he stayed in Winnebago for three months before returning to Britain in secret in October 1974. At this point he began a relationship with Judy Lane; The couple married in 1980 and had three children together. He had previously been in a five-year relationship with Rosie Lewis, with whom he had a daughter.
Marks then connects Ernie Combs, a member of The Brotherhood of Eternal Love, with John Denbigh, a man with connections in a Nepalese hashish producing country. With the help of the Yakuza, a large amount of medicine will be exported to John F. Kennedy International Airport under the guise of air-conditioning equipment, where Don Brown's masses (led by Carmine Galante) will then take over the drugs. The 500-kilo deal was established and executed on July 4, 1975, leaving Marks a wealthy man. Another deal of up to 750 kilos followed, and Marks continued to live under a pseudonym in England. In 1976, he traveled to America, and made a 1,000-kilo deal between Combs and 'Lebanese Sam' - making himself worth £ 300,000; he continues to manage the agreement between the various American and Far Eastern connections. Needing a new identity after his alias name Anthony Tunnicliffe was compromised in a police attack, in 1978 he purchased a Donald Nice passport.
Between 1975 and 1978, twenty-four cargo with a total of 55,000 pounds of hashish and has been successfully imported through John F. Kennedy Airport, New York. They have involved the Mafia, the Yakuza, the Eternal Love Brotherhood, the Thai Army, the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Pakistani Armed Forces, the Nepali monks, and others from all walks of life. Total profit made by all parties is $ 48,000,000. They ran well. "
In the late 1970s, the Trafficante crime family, under the leadership of St. Trafficante, Jr., imported Colombian marijuana into the US on cargo ships, lowering drug prices on the streets of America. In December 1979, Trafficante exported 50 tons of marijuana directly from Colombia to Marks and its contacts in the UK, enough to supply the entire UK market for the drug for nearly a year. In 1980, Marks was arrested by customs officers because of his share in importing Ã,  £ 15 million of cannabis; police have been following a fellow from the Trafficante family to a large store of marijuana. When arrested, he has a lot of incriminating evidence, as well as cash of  £ 30,000. Defended by Lord Hutchinson, Marks pleaded for 'Not Guilty', concocted the story that he was an MI6 agent (hiding the fact that his relationship with MI6 ended in 1973) and the Mexican Secret Service that had established identity as a drug smuggler to cover the net on James McCann in the UK for his IRA activities). The jury considers him innocent of drug smuggling, but guilty of using a fake passport and Marks was sentenced to two years in prison, but was released after five days for having spent most of this time before the sentence was passed. HM Customs then arrested him for involvement in smuggling operations in 1973, but after bargaining for defense and leave for forgiveness, he only served three months of three-year sentences.
Released in May 1982, although most of his employees were still in jail because Marks's crimes were found innocent, he spent the following year running a legitimate wine import business but he continued to spend more money than he earned and the savings he earned. of drug smuggling in the 1970s began to decline. In 1983, McCann was still at large and his smuggling company thrived; he offered Marks a chance to sell 250 kilos of marijuana and Marks received. Dutch police seized full shipments and arrested Mickey Williams, a member of the London world who agreed to assist Marks in the deal. Marks then traveled to the Far East to make a marijuana deal with Salim Malik, a Pakistani hemp exporter whom he met through Durrani (Durrani has suffered a fatal heart attack) and Phil Sparrowhawk, an exporter from Bangkok; they will smuggle their products into Ernie Combs in America. He also arranged a 500-kilo deal with Mickey Williams, who had traveled to Bangkok after being released from prison in Amsterdam. Marks laundered his money through various fields: travel agents, paper mills, wine importers, bulk water transport companies and secretarial services.
In 1984, he was approached to sell $ 300,000 marijuana to a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent who was seeking funding and arming the Mujahideen in their war against the Soviet occupation (Operation Cyclone). The agent's contact on the APL ship suffered a heart attack and died on the way to the US, leaving drugs in the hands of US officials; The agent then fled to Brazil to avoid prosecution. Although under surveillance, Marks continued to expand its underwater operations and set up a massage parlor at a hotel in Bangkok with the help of Phil Sparrowhawk and Lord Moynihan. In 1986, he settled in Majorca, and continued to make a large number of smuggling hashish Salim Malik to America. The DEA meanwhile knocks Marks phones and keeps him under surveillance and after catching Ernie Combs they are almost close to sending large marijuana, when Marks is told; the ship was transferred to Mauritius and the operation was canceled. As he continues to avoid the DEA sting, he continues to make millions and continues to increase his bottom contact, discovering that he can use Chinese triads to launder his drug money more effectively.
A member of the Peace House Council of the Philippines (Moynihan) lives in the home of the Chief of Spanish Police Inspector [Rafael Llofriu]. God is being watched by an American CIA agent living in the home of a sex offender convicted in England [Jim Hobbs]. CIA agents share accommodation with IRA [McCann] terrorists. IRA terrorists are discussing a Moroccan hashish deal with a Georgia pilot MedellÃÆ'n Cartel from Colombia. The organizing of this scenario is the former MI6 [Marks] agent, currently overseeing the sale of thirty tons of Thai weeds in Canada and in his home which can be found in Pakistan's main supplier of hashish [Malik]. Trying to understand the scenario is a solitary DEA agent. The stage is set for something. "
When his friends were attacked by Canada's Royal Mounted Police, Marks decided to retire from drug smuggling to concentrate on his legitimate business; citing the fate of his friends and contacts, who were imprisoned, notifying DEA or smuggling more severe drugs. In 1988, DEA agent Craig Lovato arrested Howard and Judy Marks and extradited the couple to the United States. The arrests of those involved in various criminal activities of Marks were conducted in England, Spain, the Philippines, Thailand, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Switzerland, the United States and Canada. This is the work of 'Operation Eclectic', founded in 1986 by DEA and Scotland Yard and assisted by many other law enforcement organizations around the world.
Testing and imprisonment
Mark was taken from Palma to the Modelo prison in Barcelona, ​​and then to Alcala-Meco in Madrid. There he was given a 40-page document detailing the alleged drug smuggling activities between 1970 and 1987, burdening him with a fuss operation as described in RICO's actions. In his autobiography, Marks states that "although the accusations against Judy and some others make no sense, the official accusations against me, in general, are true." The recently enacted Legislation Reform Act means that it faces at least ten years for maximum life sentence without the possibility of parole. Audiencia Nacional ordered his extradition to Florida. After being shown evidence of prosecution against him, Marks sought to build a defense that his smuggling operations were directed to Australia and that he had never been exported to the United States, and therefore never violated US law. He again cultivates the myth that he is a spy for MI6, and claims that he was founded by the CIA because he has found that CIA agents smuggle drugs into Australia. He and his lawyers spent hours reviewing telephones tapping evidence to make a coded conversation about smuggling to America seem to indicate that the drugs were actually smuggled into Australia; research was conducted in weather patterns to prove a temporary relationship between what Marks and his colleagues said and what happened at the time in Australia. Marks and his wife were extradited in 1989, and he was granted Miranda rights on a flight from Spain to the United States.
In Florida, Judy pleaded guilty to her small part in the fray and was released, having spent several months in jail in Spain. Money Marks made from smuggling operations are spent on legal fees. He refuses to bargain or tell his colleagues, gambling that he can reassure the jury that the authorities have arrested the wrong person. When the trial began in July 1990, Patrick Lane, his brother-in-law and fellow smuggler, wrote to Marks to inform him that he would testify against Marks in court for a softer sentence. Mark still believes defeating the DEA in court, but Ernie Combs also agrees to testify for prosecution so as to secure his wife's release, and Marks has little choice but to change his plea to be guilty of extortion charges. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined $ 50,000; although he was originally sentenced to 15 years, he was brought back to court after the judge realized he had made a mistake and said that his 10 and 15 years sentence should be executed in a sequence and not, as he has stated, simultaneously.
He spent seven years imprisoned in the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana, a rough prison. He was initially sentenced by Butner, but Lovato's agent insisted that he instead served time in Terre Haute. One of the six safest prisons in the country, Terre Haute has the worst reputation of six for rape and gang violence. Nevertheless, Marks keeps in touch with many of the violent prisoners stationed there because he's a "famous British and non-rat" and avoids conflict "by being nice, charming and eccentric." During his time there he became friends with many famous criminals and members of four of the famous Five Families, including: Gennaro "Gerry Lang" Langella (the crime family of Colombo); James "Jimmy C" Coonan, John "Johnny Carnegs" Carneglia, Vittorio "Little Vic" Amuso, and Frank "Frankie Loc" LoCascio (Gambino criminal family); Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato (family crime Bonanno); and Joey Testa (the evil family of Lucchese). He also befriends Veronza Bowers, Jr. (Black Panther Party) and 'Big Jim' from the Outlaw motorcycle club.
Because of his status as a University of Oxford graduate with an alleged connection to the Secret Service of British Intelligence he was treated as a potential escape and spent several weeks in solitary confinement, though he never attempted to escape or threaten other prisoners or prison staff. During his time in prison, he found success as a prison lawyer for other inmates, securing an upside-down conviction. He quit smoking for the last three years of his sentence. In January 1995, Mark was given parole after a prison officer testified that he was an exemplary prisoner who spent most of his time helping his fellow prisoners pass their GED exams. He was released in April 1995.
Life after release
Acting
She acted in the Killer Bitch gangster movie (2010), starring in the movie I Know You Know (2009), appeared as Satan in the 2006 film adaptation of Dirty Sanchez television series, and has a cameo appearance in the movie Human Traffic (1999). He appears as himself on AmStarDam (aka "Stoner Express") (2016).
Advocacy and politics
Marks stood for election to the British Parliament in 1997, on a single issue of legalizing marijuana. He contested four seats at once - Norwich South (against Interior Minister Charles Clarke), Norwich North, Neath and Southampton Test - and took about 1% of the vote. This led to the establishment of the Legislation License Alliance (LCA) by Alun Buffry in 1999; the party was reformed as Cannabis Law Reform in 2011.
He also argues for the legalization of marijuana in various television programs in the UK. On October 1, 2010, she was interviewed in Ireland The Late Late Show . The Dutch Cannabis Seedbank Sensi Seeds dedicates their strain Mr. Nice G13 x Hash Plant to Marks for his advocacy work.
Books
After being released from prison, Marks published an autobiography, Mr. Nice (1996), which has been translated into several languages. He also composed an anthology called The Book of Marks Dope Howard Stories (2001) and was recently a follow-up of his autobiography: SeÃÆ' Â ± or Nice: Straight Life From Wales to South America . SeÃÆ' Â ± or Nice is different from his previous book because drugs are not important in the story and, while autobiographical, this book is more of Mark's own exploration of his ancestor, the pirate Sir Henry Morgan. In 2011, he wrote the thriller Sympathy for the Devil . His last book "Mr. Smiley, my last pill and testament" ISBN 978-1-5098-0968-4 Pan Macmillan, published in 2015
Marks held a series of book readings in 2014. In this live event he told his listeners stories about his days of smuggling and his time in prison, and offered insight into the production of drugs and arguments for the legalization of marijuana.
Comics and videogames
Marks and comic writers Pat Mills collaborate in comic strips attached to Sony's video game inFamous 2 .
Music
In the music scene, she appeared as a guest on the BBC music show quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks . He also collaborated with the Welsh Super Furry Animals group on their album Fuzzy Logic (released May 1996) and on their singles "The Man Do not Give a Fuck" and "Ice Hockey Hair". She appeared on the album Angel Headed Hip Hop (2009) with Lee Harris and River Styx. He also worked with former Happy Mondays guitarist Kav Sandhu and appeared at various UK music festivals including: (Glastonbury 2009 and 2011), Beautiful Days, RockNess, Camp Bestival, Kendal Calling and Sonisphere Festival. She is featured on Pastors & amp; The Makers tracked "MDMAzing" on their third album @Reverend Makers (2012).
Working on Marks
Marks is the biased subject of High Time (1984) written by David Leigh.
Marks is also the subject of the film . Nice (2010), named after his autobiography of 1997. The film features Rhys Ifans as Marks and ChloÃÆ'¤ Sevigny as his wife Judy.
In 2013, Marks tells his story in an episode of the Banged Up Abroad television series.
Death
On January 25, 2015, it was announced that Marks had an inoperable, colorectal cancer. He died of illness on 10 April 2016, at the age of 70.
Bibliography
- Sir. Nice Secker and Warburg 1996 ISBNÃ, 0-436-20305-7
- Dope Howard Marks Story Book . Vintage. 2001. ISBN: 0-09-942855-5.
- Nice Senor: Straight Life from Wales to South America . Harvill Secker. 2006. ISBNÃ, 0-436-21015-0.
- Sympathy for the Devil . Harvill Secker. 2011. ISBN: 978-0-09-953273-6.
- Mr Smiley pills and my last will . Pan Macmillan. 2015. ISBN: 978-1-5098-0968-4.
References
Specific
General Marks, Howard (1997), Mr Nice, Secker and Warburg, ISBNÃ, 0-7493-9569-9
External links
- Markus Howard - the official site
- Howard Marks discography on Discogs
- Mark Howard in IMDb
- Howard Marks page in literary agents Conville and Walsh
- Hunting for Howard Headquarters full transcript, PBS document October 1990, in which both Howard Marks and Craig Lovato were interviewed
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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