In early April, I left the life of Dennis Howard marks, better known by his nickname Mr nice, is a graduate of Oxford, who exchanged a career in physics to the fate of a smuggler. Marx created an underground drug Empire at the peak of its power controlled 10 percent of the entire global flow of soft drugs (hard Mr nice in principle not traded). For the UPS and downs of Dennis Marx traced “Tape.ru”.
Kid from a working village
Dennis Howard marks was born on 13 August 1945 in the mining village of Kenfig hill — a small village in the South of Wales is known that regularly supplies players to the national team for Rugby. His father was a commercial seaman, rising to captain, and his mother was a teacher. According to family legend, the family of Marks was traced back to the famous pirate Henry John Morgan — storm Caribbean sea and the Governor of Jamaica.
In high school Dennis was distinguished by remarkable diligence and success in the Sciences, unlike their peers, who openly despised the arrogant prick that he feels accepted among his classmates activities, such as collective Masturbation.
To gain the respect of classmates, Marx had to learn to smoke, drink and fool teachers. That, however, did not prevent him to obtain excellent grades in physics. Dennis was invited to study at kings College, London University, but the headmaster insisted that he be in Oxford, in the famous Balliol College. Dennis later recalled: “in the Morning and in the afternoon we methodically passed the exams, and in the evenings, just methodically got drunk”. To my surprise, Marx in College did — mostly due to the fact that during the interview he managed to gain the affection of the eccentric Russell Meiggs, the famous Explorer of Ancient Greece.
In Balliol College Dennis Marx made many useful contacts with offspring of noble families and became addicted to Smoking marijuana and Indian food, were then coming into fashion. Dennis attended crowd of beatniks, hitch-hiked, turned their Dorm room into a crack den. Marijuana Marx liked alcohol he consumed in overdoses, but with LSD at a young Oxford student relationship did not work — the drug drove him into severe depression. After his friend Joshua Macmillan, a grandson of former Prime Minister, died of an overdose of heroin and cocaine, Marx promised to deal with hard drugs.
French beatnik
Photo: Central Press / Getty Images
In 1967, Dennis has successfully passed the final exams. By this time the marijuana, mini skirts and sexual freedom is in Vogue, but Marx wasn’t keen to go with the flow. Already after graduating from University, he obtained a qualification of teacher of physics and plunged into science, occasionally, though, Smoking marijuana and engaging in promiscuous sexual relations — scientific studies, thought Dennis, they do not interfere.
First Empire
Its a great drug Empire Marx began to build in 1970. It all started with an accident: a friend of Dennis, Graham Plinston, the owner of a shooting gallery, and a major smuggler of hashish, was arrested by the police of Hamburg. Trying to rescue his friend, Marx took up with his dealer — Muhammad Durrani, great-nephew of the king of Afghanistan, an adventurer with a lot of connections and started to develop their own network of sales of hashish.
Durrani, using his contacts in the highest circles of Pakistan and Afghanistan, was smuggled hashish into Europe in the Luggage of Pakistani diplomats, not subjected to inspection. One of the employees of the Pakistani foreign Ministry thus smuggled a ton of hashish in furniture and personal belongings. The channel worked smoothly, but soon Marx and his friends have decided enough is enough: with every deal they received only 20 percent, and the rest settled in pockets Durrani and diplomats. I had to find a new channel — and found it came into contact with militant IRA James Joseph McCann.
By 1972, the Empire Marx was a serious commercial enterprise. The business needed new markets, and Dennis Marx contacted the American “Brotherhood of eternal love” — an organization that had a goal of distributing marijuana, LSD and hashish among American youth. The scope of activities of the “Brotherhood” was enormous, and Marx made a contribution, sending in the US marijuana in the musical equipment that allegedly belonged to a pop group from the UK going on tour.
It was a time of easy money. In 1973 Marx was arrested by the police in the Netherlands, he had seized a large part of the funds, but after the release on bail Dennis returned the money with interest. The geography of drug trafficking Marx included almost the whole world: he was working with the Yakuza and the American mafia, with Nepalese monks IRA, the Palestine liberation Organization and the generals from Thailand and Pakistan. Marx easily changed passports — one of them was issued in the name of a certain Mr. NYCE, under which Dennis was to become famous in centuries.
Mr nice in Ibiza at the age of 54
Photo: Leelu / Getty Images
But soon the Empire Dennis Marx had collapsed. Not his fault: marijuana dealers in new York careless and got under the hood of the police and the FBI. Unraveling ties between the middlemen, the suppliers and consumers of drugs, the cops and got to Marx. During the arrest when it found drugs and 30 thousand pounds in cash. The harsh sentence seemed inevitable, to save Mr. Nice could only wonder.
Under very deep cover
Such a serious thing as a miracle, believed Marx, cannot be left in the hands of Providence. He has developed a line of defence, which his attorney called insane.
His defense marks lined up on the little episode many years ago. In 1972 he was recruited to work for the British intelligence service MI6 ex-boyfriend from graduate school — Hamilton McMillan, who was also a lover of weed. MI6 was hoping to use Marx connection, in the circles of drug traffickers, to penetrate the “iron curtain”: it was assumed that Dennis will find customers in Romania and Czechoslovakia, and under the roof of the drug dealers will be able to work for British intelligence.
Dennis readily agreed, seeing this as an opportunity to expand the boundaries of its no drug Empire and get virtually carte Blanche on the importation of cannabis under the protection of MI6. However, to enter the Eastern European markets Marx was not destined to: then came the famous case of the brothers Littlejoe — former criminals, which MI6 has introduced into the ranks of the Irish Republican army (IRA). The British press was seething with indignation — why, the secret service of Her Majesty uses the services of felons! Fearing that the papers will dig up anything reprehensible, exploration, just in case severed ties with all of its agents with criminal connections — including with Marx.
It didn’t help: when in the same year Marx was detained by the Dutch police, the Newspapers presented him as the innocent victim, the undercover agent who infiltrated MI6 job in the ranks of the IRA. Soon the matter was hushed up, but the residue remained.
And now at the court of Marx announced he was working for MI6 and all the drug operation was carried out on its instructions and under its control. The court, of course, sent a request to the British intelligence, and from there, of course, replied that such employee or agent has them listed. Marx retorted calmly, explaining that is very deep undercover agent in MI6, and many about him just don’t know, and if they do, I will not say. The jury that made a strong impression in the Western world read spy novels of John Le Carre, and told Dennis the story seemed quite plausible. In addition, the Prosecutor was forced to admit that at least until 1973 Marx really was brought to work for MI6.
The nail in the coffin was hammered by the lawyer, presented his client’s agent, abandoned by cynical employers: “MI6 used Howard Marx to penetrate the IRA… the British intelligence Agents did not want to confirm to the court, as did the accusation that they worked for Howard marks. They preferred to sit in the audience. I’m sure the jury can see them. Howard Marx abandoned to their fate, as “the spy who returned from the cold.” So it is called in the language of the intelligence services. They say, “You’re on your own, buddy”. You may remember the court case of Russian spies: Kim Philby, Anthony blunt. It seems that British intelligence is ready to protect you from the prosecution of agents who worked against the country. But not those who worked in the country”.
In the end, the process turned into a triumph of Dennis Marx. He was found not guilty in drug smuggling, though condemned for using false documents for two years. From this period he spent exactly five days — he made the time spent under arrest, was fine during the process. Three months Dennis had to sit at the suit of the customs administration. By the way, most of the members of his narkeeta received solid terms for the crime of which their boss was acquitted.
Two weeks later, after Marx met senior superintendent of police, Thames valley Philip Fairweather, confirming to the press the fact of recruitment of Dennis MI6, stabbed himself in the stomach kitchen knife. 58-year-old veteran of the Second world war, preferred death to a charge of violating the official secrets act.
Lucky only once
After leaving prison, Marx was engaged in a legitimate business importing wine. But for the years spent at the helm no drug Empire, Dennis used to live in Grand style. Money is not enough, and soon he again had a ball. Many of his previous partners died, but Marx found a replacement eliminated, by establishing links with drug trafficking networks in Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines.
In 1984, Dennis was trying to make contact with the CIA, legalizing the trafficking Pakistani hashish. As conceived by Marx, each batch of the drug was marked with a special seal, which confirmed that the cannabis grown in Afghanistan, and all the money from its sale go to support the heroic struggle of the Mujahideen against the Soviet troops and the Kabul puppet of Moscow. The deal fell through for reasons beyond Dennis reasons.
A rich harvest Afghan marijuana
Photo: Bill Graveland / Diomedia
Meanwhile, doing business became difficult: anti-drug service in different countries are better coordinated. Marx soon found that the American Management on struggle against drugs listens on his phone. Feeling that the circle is tightening, Mr. nice tried to go out of business. He managed quite a bit: in 1988, the crime syndicate of Marx, rooted in England, Spain, the Netherlands, Thailand, Pakistan, USA, Canada, Switzerland and the Philippines, was defeated by the joint efforts of American police and Scotland Yard.
In an American court Marx tried to work the trick which it had once saved the British court. He again insisted that an agent of MI6 who revealed the shady dealings, the CIA has smuggled drugs into Australia. Together with his lawyers, he spent hours analyzing film wiretapping and eventually told the court that the Office for combating drugs incorrectly interpreted all code words, names, and geographical names, and actually it was about the export of drugs into Australia, not in USA and therefore the American justice claims it should not be.
Maybe audacity would save Marx this time, but American investigators are convinced his accomplices to testify against the boss and the partner in exchange for relatively lenient sentences. Parry Dennis had nothing. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and a 50 thousand dollar fine.
Prison and death
The sentence Marx was serving at Federal correctional complex Terre Haute — protected prison, notorious for high levels of gang-rape and murder among the prisoners. But Dennis Marx this fate has passed. Among savage criminals charming, friendly and eccentric Englishman enjoyed universal sympathy. He started a lot of Dating among the largest criminal syndicates, and earned the respect of other criminals that persistently and legally competent to protect the rights of prisoners before prison staff and even helped to knock off time one of those sentenced. In 1995, marks was released on PAROLE after serving only seven years old. In an accompanying note, the prison authorities emphasized that Dennis has helped many prisoners to take correspondence exams in high school and get their degree — it is still useful to the profession of physics teacher, received many years ago.
Marx and hemp
After the liberation of Howard marks has released an autobiography, which he called “Mr.Nice” (in Russian it was published under the name of “Mr Pot”), which was subsequently filmed. In 1997, he ran for the British Parliament, having built his campaign around the fight for the legalization of cannabis, but lost. Starred in films, regularly appeared at music festivals and to the end remained a staunch fighter for “legalayz”, claiming that smoked weed for 22 years without any harm to health.
In the late 1990s, Dennis Marx sent a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair (also, incidentally, graduated from Balliol College), offering his candidature for the role of head of Service for control of drug trafficking, and received the reply: “regret to inform, which can’t include You in the list of candidates for interview for the position. I hope this refusal will not disappoint You in the future You will not refuse to apply for other vacancies when they appear.”
In January 2015 Dennis Howard marks has announced he has cancer of the rectum, and that the operation is not possible. He died April 10, 2016, mourn his four children. He was 70 years old.
