up again.'
The farmhouse windows and doors were kept tightly closed during the twenty-four-hour period of harvest.
When the poppies had been picked, Rizzoli watched the sticky white gum transformed from a morphine base into heroin, at a 'laboratory' in the hills 'So, that's it, huh?' Carella shook his head. 'No, my friend. That's only the beginning Making the heroin is the easiest part. The trick is to transport it without getting caught.' Tony Rizzoli felt an excitement building in him. This was where his expertise was going to take over. Up until now, the business had been run by bunglers. Now he was going to show them how a professional operated 'How do you move this stuff?' 'There are many ways. Truck, bus, train, car, mule, camel . . .' 'Camel?'
'We used to smuggle heroin in cans in the camel's belly until the guards started using metal detectors. So we switched to rubber bags. At the end of the trip we kill the camels. The problem is that sometimes the bags burst inside the camels, and the animals stagger up to the border like drunks. So the guards caught on.' 'What route do you use?' 'Sometimes the heroin is routed from Aleppo, Beirut and Istanbul, and on to Marseilles. Sometimes the drugs go from Istanbul to Greece, then on to Sicily through Corsica and Morocco and across the Atlantic.' 'I appreciate your cooperation,' Rizzoli said. till tell the boys I have another favor to ask of you.' 'Yes?' 'I'd like to go along with the next shipment.' There was a long pause. 'That could be dangerous.' till take my chances.'
The following afternoon, Tony Rizzoli was introduced to a large, hulking bandit of a man, with a grandiose, flowing mustache, and the body of a tank. 'This is Mustafa from Afyon. In Turkish, afyon means opium. Mustafa is one of our most skilled smugglers.' 'One has to be skilled,' Mustafa said modestly. 'There are many dangers.' Tony Rizzoli grinned. 'But it's worth the risk, eh?' Mustafa said with dignity, 'You are speaking of money. To us, opium is more than a money crop. There is a mystique about it. It is the one crop that is more than food alone. The white sap of the plant is a God-given elixir which is a natural medicine if taken in small quantities. It can be eaten, or applied directly to the skin, and it will cure most of the common ailments upset stomachs, colds, fever, aches, pains, sprains. But you must be careful. If you take it in large amounts, not only will it cloud the senses, it will rob you of your sexual prowess, and nothing in Turkey could more destroy a man's dignity than impotence.' 'Sure. Anything you say.'
The journey from Afyon began at midnight. A group of farmers, walking single file through the black night, rendezvoused with Mustafa. The mules were loaded with opium, 350 kilos, more than 700 pounds, strapped to the backs of seven stout mules The sweet pungent odor of the opium, like wet hay, hovered in the air about the men. There were a dozen farmers who had come to guard the opium in the transaction with Mustafa. Each farmer was armed with a rifle 'We have to be careful these days,' Mustafa told Rizzoli 'We have Interpol and many police looking for us. In the old days, it was more fun. We used to transport opium through a village or the city in a casket draped in black. It was a heartwarming sight to see the people and the police on the street, lifting their hats and saluting in respect as a coffin of opium went by.' The province of Afyon lies in the center of the western third of Turkey at the foot of the Sultan Mountains on a high plateau, remote and virtually isolated from the nation's leading cities 'This terrain is very good for our work,' Mustafa said 'We are not easy to find.'
The mules moved slowly through the desolate mountains, and at midnight, three days later, they reached the Turkish-Syrian border. There they were met by a woman dressed in black. She was leading a horse carrying an innocent sack of flour, and there was a hemp rope knotted loosely on its saddle
The farmhouse windows and doors were kept tightly closed during the twenty-four-hour period of harvest.
When the poppies had been picked, Rizzoli watched the sticky white gum transformed from a morphine base into heroin, at a 'laboratory' in the hills 'So, that's it, huh?' Carella shook his head. 'No, my friend. That's only the beginning Making the heroin is the easiest part. The trick is to transport it without getting caught.' Tony Rizzoli felt an excitement building in him. This was where his expertise was going to take over. Up until now, the business had been run by bunglers. Now he was going to show them how a professional operated 'How do you move this stuff?' 'There are many ways. Truck, bus, train, car, mule, camel . . .' 'Camel?'
'We used to smuggle heroin in cans in the camel's belly until the guards started using metal detectors. So we switched to rubber bags. At the end of the trip we kill the camels. The problem is that sometimes the bags burst inside the camels, and the animals stagger up to the border like drunks. So the guards caught on.' 'What route do you use?' 'Sometimes the heroin is routed from Aleppo, Beirut and Istanbul, and on to Marseilles. Sometimes the drugs go from Istanbul to Greece, then on to Sicily through Corsica and Morocco and across the Atlantic.' 'I appreciate your cooperation,' Rizzoli said. till tell the boys I have another favor to ask of you.' 'Yes?' 'I'd like to go along with the next shipment.' There was a long pause. 'That could be dangerous.' till take my chances.'
The following afternoon, Tony Rizzoli was introduced to a large, hulking bandit of a man, with a grandiose, flowing mustache, and the body of a tank. 'This is Mustafa from Afyon. In Turkish, afyon means opium. Mustafa is one of our most skilled smugglers.' 'One has to be skilled,' Mustafa said modestly. 'There are many dangers.' Tony Rizzoli grinned. 'But it's worth the risk, eh?' Mustafa said with dignity, 'You are speaking of money. To us, opium is more than a money crop. There is a mystique about it. It is the one crop that is more than food alone. The white sap of the plant is a God-given elixir which is a natural medicine if taken in small quantities. It can be eaten, or applied directly to the skin, and it will cure most of the common ailments upset stomachs, colds, fever, aches, pains, sprains. But you must be careful. If you take it in large amounts, not only will it cloud the senses, it will rob you of your sexual prowess, and nothing in Turkey could more destroy a man's dignity than impotence.' 'Sure. Anything you say.'
The journey from Afyon began at midnight. A group of farmers, walking single file through the black night, rendezvoused with Mustafa. The mules were loaded with opium, 350 kilos, more than 700 pounds, strapped to the backs of seven stout mules The sweet pungent odor of the opium, like wet hay, hovered in the air about the men. There were a dozen farmers who had come to guard the opium in the transaction with Mustafa. Each farmer was armed with a rifle 'We have to be careful these days,' Mustafa told Rizzoli 'We have Interpol and many police looking for us. In the old days, it was more fun. We used to transport opium through a village or the city in a casket draped in black. It was a heartwarming sight to see the people and the police on the street, lifting their hats and saluting in respect as a coffin of opium went by.' The province of Afyon lies in the center of the western third of Turkey at the foot of the Sultan Mountains on a high plateau, remote and virtually isolated from the nation's leading cities 'This terrain is very good for our work,' Mustafa said 'We are not easy to find.'
The mules moved slowly through the desolate mountains, and at midnight, three days later, they reached the Turkish-Syrian border. There they were met by a woman dressed in black. She was leading a horse carrying an innocent sack of flour, and there was a hemp rope knotted loosely on its saddle
Similar Books
