Book description
'It won't happen to me. That's what I thought when I got on the plane
to Venezuela. But it did - I got caught.'
Caught smuggling half a million euros' worth of cocaine, Paul Keany
was sexually assaulted by Venezuelan anti-drugs officers before being
sentenced to eight years in the notorious Los Teques prison outside
Caracas. There he was plunged into a nightmarish world of coke-fuelled
killings, gun battles, stabbings, extortion and forced hunger strikes
until finally, just over two years into his sentence, he gained early
parole and embarked on a daring escape from South America . . .
Aided by his extensive prison diaries, Keany reveals the true horror
of life inside Los Teques: a shocking underworld behind bars where
inmates pay protection money to stay alive, prostitutes do the rounds
and vast amounts of cocaine are smuggled in for cell-block bosses to
sell on to prisoners for huge profits. The Cocaine Diaries is a
remarkable story, told by Keany with honesty, courage and even humour,
despite knowing that every day behind bars might have been his last.
Paul Keany was a successful self-employed plumber until the Irish
property crash in 2008. An aspiring novelist, he has turned his back
on the murky world of drug-smuggling to focus on a life of writing.
Born and raised in Oxford, he now lives in Dublin.
Jeff Farrell is an independent Irish journalist and documentary
maker specialising in Latin American affairs. His work has appeared in
various publications, including The Guardian and the Daily
Telegraph. He currently lives in Dublin.
