banged up abroad
venezuela (1/4)

Returning tonight for a second run is this four-part drama-documentary series telling the gripping real-life stories of young travellers who find themselves incarcerated overseas. The series begins with the cautionary tale of Leicester teenagers Jim and Paul, who spent four and a half years in Venezuela’s notorious penal system after attempting to smuggle cocaine.

In 1996, friends James and Paul were bored of life in Leicester and desperate for something exciting to happen. “I wanted a challenge; I wanted some adventure,” remembers Paul. “I wanted to go and see a bit of the world.” When they bumped into an old friend who had apparently come by a lot of money, they got their chance. If they wanted what he had, said the friend, he knew a guy who could help them get it.

The friend introduced the pair to a mysterious Russian man who had a proposal for them. If they went to Venezuela to collect a package of drugs for him, he would pay them $8,000 each, put them up in a luxury hotel and give them some spending money. All they had to do was meet their contact, collect the drugs and come back – and everyone at the airport would be paid off, so there would be “no way” they could get caught. James and Paul thought they were on to a sure thing. “We were gullible children,” admits James.

With the Russian anxious to get things moving quickly, James and Paul were off to Venezuela within a week. When they landed in Caracas, they felt like they were going on holiday. But they soon realised what they were into when they met their armed contact and were measured for the bulletproof vests which would carry the cocaine.

On the day James and Paul were due to fly out, they were driven to a shack in the shanty towns of Caracas and sewn into the vests, which were filled with far more cocaine than they had been told they would be carrying. Packed off to Maiquetía airport in a taxi, they were gripped by paranoia and thought it was obvious that everyone knew what they were doing.

Things seemed to be looking up when Paul and James got through immigration without any trouble – but while they were waiting for their flight to be called, James started to believe that they were being watched. His suspicions were confirmed when the pair were stopped as they attempted to board the plane. They were taken to a small room, where the 22 pounds of cocaine were discovered. “That’s when it started to sink in,” says James. “We’re not getting out of here, are we?”

Paul and James were then taken to La Vega police station, which was filled with the sounds of violent uproar in the cells. They were there for eight months before they were sentenced to four years – and were not even present at their own trial. At the request of the British government, they were kept at La Vega instead of being sent to a state prison, for their own protection, but they knew they were still in enormous danger.

After two and a half years in La Vega, James and Paul were transferred to a state prison. Here, prisoners killing each other was a common occurrence; drugs, guns and grenades were everywhere; and the boys began to doubt that they would ever see home again. And, after serving three and a half years, the boys were stunned to hear that they were now expected to serve a ten-year sentence.

Astonishingly, James and Paul were later granted day-release – on the condition that they got jobs and returned to the prison each night until 2007. However, they decided that there was no way they could ever go back – and began to plan their escape from Venezuela. But with no money, and the knowledge that they would go back to jail if caught, it was not going to be easy...