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SNOWING IN BALI

of coke in a hang-glider frame. When he was busted, he’d fled the airport and was on the run for two weeks. In jail, he cooked me lunch – pasta and steak (he’d spent time in a Swiss cooking school, and it was delicious). I also met his death-row compatriot Rodrigo Gularte, who was Marco’s polar opposite – very quiet and sad, with huge black circles under his eyes. I was introduced to Rodrigo in the church, and he was very polite, but didn’t say much. I was told he’d been crying all morning, and that this was typical.

I went back to Nusakambangan for Snowing in Bali, but was busted on day two with my digital recorder. Although the prison boss was courteous, he knew of Hotel Kerobokan and was fearful I was writing an exposé on his jail – which would indeed make interesting reading, but I wasn’t. He allowed me back inside for 20 minutes to say goodbye, but I had to conduct the rest of my interviews with Marco on the phone.

I was also introduced to fugitive dealer Andre, living on a false passport in Bali, after he’d escaped from jail in Brazil. He was dead keen to tell his story, and even some day go on Banged Up Abroad – a television show he regularly watched to get tips on what-not-to-do. He was an extremely intelligent and good looking guy, well educated, with three sisters in Brazil – two of them doctors. Like most of the dealers I met, Andre could have chosen any career he wanted, but he chose to traffic drugs. It appeared to be a direct line to a glamorous life – until it flipped to a tiny prison cell. I spent many long days over several weeks interviewing Andre – including doing follow-ups over a few months – until the day he got spooked. Some Bali dealers, had heard he was talking to a journalist and, given his fugitive status, he panicked that they’d give him up.

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