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AGAINST THE ODDS

nice and she was always in my face, pushing me: 'No, this price is too low. Are you crazy?' and pushing me to make bigger bigger bigger. She push me a lot too ... to take the money and do something else. She says, 'Let's bring 100 kilo, let's bring 200 kilo, and retire in good style.'

Did you ever do that?

We try, but the biggest amount was 20 kilos in one go.

And did she go on trips to take drugs or money?

She loved to pick up money.

By doing business remotely, Rafael was getting ripped off by some of his merry-go-round of partners and combined with horses busting, his finances started fluctuating wildly – soaring then crashing to zero. His lucky star seemed to be waning. The day Hells Angel Tota phoned with a project, wanting him to fly to Stockholm in two days time to pick up 2 kilos of coke, he was broke. But this was a dead cert.

'Come on, Tota, how?' Rafael asked, uncertain. Tota told him that a Brazilian Federal cop, his friend, was escorting a Hells Angel on an extradition flight from Rio to Stockholm: 'Nobody checks him.'

'No, no way, man, I don't want to see any cop, are you crazy?'

Tota persisted, 'You're fucking stupid, man; this guy is my brother, he's a cop but he's a bandito too. Fuck, don't be a puss, man. Take the plane.'

Tota wanted Rafael to meet the cop at Stockholm's Arlanda Airport in the frenetic international arrivals hall. 'No way, man, there are cameras. I don't want to meet any cop in the airport.'