Legendary marijuana trafficker Howard Marks lost his battle with colon cancer on Sunday. He was 70 years old.<\/p>\n
Marks was arrested by the DEA in 1987 and charged with racketeering under the RICO Act for his alleged drug smuggling activities, which began in 1970. Despite being found guilty and sentenced to 25 years, Marks served only 7 years in a U.S. federal prison. After his release in 1995, he wrote his autobiography, Mr. Nice, named after one of his aliases (Don Nice). It was also the name of his cannabis seed company and the 2010 film starring Rhys Ifans.<\/p>\n
He was born on August 13th in Wales. Marks attended Oxford University before launching his career as a counterculture criminal. He started by smuggling hashish from Pakistan to London and eventually brought a large quantity of Colombian marijuana into the US.<\/p>\n
His adventurous life expanded to include dealings with the Irish Republican Army, the British intelligence agency MI6, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, and numerous crime families. He made millions, but spent most of it on legal bills.<\/p>\n
A strong supporter of marijuana legalization, Marks stated in 2015:<\/p>\n
\u201cI am pleased to see what they have done now in four US states. After my experience at the hands of the American legal system, America is the last place in the world I thought would be leading the fight.<\/p>\n