Packets of crack/cocaine seized in Montego Bay on November 3, 2005. Drug mules who ingest cocaine pellets are at great risk of death if any of the capsules bursts. - File

Paul H. Williams, Gleaner Writer

In the animal kingdom, the mule gets no respect. It has no pedigree, and it is regarded as being stupid. In the human world, its reputation is no different. It is seen as a stubborn, barren beast of burden.

Well, though he was once a 'mule', Melvin does not think he is stupid, after all. He thinks he's smart, and that's why he never got caught smuggling drugs to the United States. He has made over 30 trips, laden, as a mule, with cocaine and heroine.

But he fell from the lap of luxury into poverty. His story is one of a former illegal drugs carrier who has fallen upon hard times.

This Rasta man used to go about selling brooms, living a humble life, and keeping true to his faith. One day, as he trod around plying his wares, he came upon a long-time friend of his, and they chatted for some time. Melvin told him he had a U.S. visa. Serendipity! Finally, a chance had come. He reflected on the little money he was getting from selling brooms; it was "like butter 'gainst sun". He made a deal to carry drugs to the United States, a decision which got him entangled in a web of deceit and crime.

With cocaine strapped to his body, Melvin set out on his first trip. He was not afraid, not nervous. He was confident; this was a challenge, and he intended to overcome it. This first experience to him "was like going to a university to take an exam and pass it with flying colours".

"I was always a man of confidence ... if you don't have no confidence in yourself, you are twice defeated in the race of life, but with confidence you conquer all things," he reasoned. So, on the way to Miami and upon arrival, his thoughts were about successfully going through immigration and customs.

First pay day

He delivered the shipment, got his money, and after about two days made his way back home. His first pay day netted US$2,000 out of the US$19,000 he brought back to his boss. That was about 1993.

Many more missions were to come, and the rewards got bigger. With pellets of drugs in his stomach, some concealed in his armpits, bandaged to his knees and legs, and hidden in the pockets of a second pair of pants, he jetted to New York, Boston, Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Having acquired the skills and knowledge that go with drug smuggling, he soon started to harbour ideas of doing his own transactions. The money was tempting, and he said to himself, "If I can take chance for men, I can also take chance for myself.

"Because I was more successful, I was reeling in big bags, 19, 20, US$20-odd thousand per day, per travel," Melvin said, his voice inflecting excitement. However, his 'success' did not go down well with those who had recruited him. He explained, "They get bad-minded ... they rob mi, I give dem money to buy the cocaine because they was the one who know where to get cocaine in Jamaica ... and dem hold on to the money."

He was not deterred by the bad blood that now existed between recruiter and graduate, so he pressed on. But he was stopped in his tracks upon arrival during one of his Fort Lauderdale trips. An immigration officer bluntly told him he suspected he was carrying cocaine in his stomach. Melvin denied it, but the officer told him he was going to prove that he had.

It was now time to call upon his faith. "So, I call upon my Father, and say, 'Father, deliver me, here am I, deliver me,' and him carry me into a room to X-ray me and when him X-ray me him come up with nothing at all," he recalled.

Having failed to find drugs in Melvin's stomach, the officer called the house where he was going to stay. When the occupants saw the U.S. Immigration number on the caller ID, they fled. Those who had come to pick him up at the airport also left in a hurry. Melvin was on his own. However, with no evidence to book him, Immigration let him go, with over 100 pellets of cocaine in his stomach, and he went back several times after. The money he got was shared with family and friends, and they lived the big life.

All this while he was struggling with his spirituality. For, as a Rasta man, he had lost his way. He said, "I tek it and give a lot a people, I help a lot of people because the spirit said to me is dirty money." Giving away the tainted money was one way of redeeming himself.

But, with the introduction of new and better search and X-ray technologies, Melvin lost his confidence, and decided to stop trafficking. However, the retirement was brief as his money ran out. He considered his next move. The lure of drug money was just too much and the mule dusted off his hampers, strapped them on, and resumed his perilous journeys.

"Because of greed and because of financial embarrassment" was how he justified his resumption. Money was now back in his life, and the takers came knocking at his door.

"I tek it and still help a lot a people ... the last money what a mek, a mek US$20,000, and that is the last money a hold out of drugs, out of cocaine into my hands, and I give my mother US$5,000 because my mother is a ICI higgler, and I give my wife also US$5,000 for she to do buying and selling like my mother ... because a mek up my mind not to smuggle cocaine ... no matter what the position I fall into, I decide sey I ain't gonna carry no more cocaine ..."

The decision to finally stop trafficking cocaine was a result of divine intervention, he claimed. He said the Father told him that cocaine destroyed life, and "him not walking with me anymore, enough is enough". He heeded the warning and abandoned his illegal practice. He invested whatever money he had left in various ventures, but they all failed, leaving him stone broke.

"None of that money is left as we speak, not even a cent," he lamented.

It has been many years now since he took his last trip, and except for a measly contribution from family and associates, Melvin has no steady source of income. But, his spirit is not broken, and his message for those who are involved with or contemplating using drugs is: "Desist, desist from carrying drugs ... there is always a way out ... drugs is not the way out, drugs is very destructive to life, and the Father, the Almighty, never come to destroy life, him come to protect life and to preserve life."

paul.williams@gleanerjm.com