Snowing in Bali by Kathryn Bonella Page A

a couple of weeks later. It was delivered in the same spot, same way. One of Chino’s men would ring, saying, ‘Meet me at the petrol station near the Bali Deli, 10 pm.’ That night they’d arrive on motorbikes. Chino’s guy would give Rafael a plastic shopping bag, often with about $50,000 in it and a sarong loosely tossed on top. It would be a quick, no chitchat exchange. Rafael would then take the bag home, adding it to the copious stash in his safe or wardrobe.
    Ostensibly, Rafael was exclusive with Chino, but covertly he broke the rules, operating his own pyramid of sellers – such as Brazilian Ruggiero, or several French, Italian and Australian people, who sold small packets to western customers. Selling gram by gram was riskier, as it required dealing with more people, but the prices were high. It meant that even in times when it was snowing, or a Peruvian was undercutting, Rafael could still easily make $50,000 a kilo by getting his guys to sell grams, mostly to rich expats on the island – professionals, business people, doctors and lawyers – delivering to their villas, luxury homes or sometimes their restaurants. These people often paid $150 to $200 a gram.
    Rafael also sold kilos to international buyers, but only if Chino wasn’t aware of the coke arriving. Rafael felt this was fair, as Chino was sometimes fully stocked and told him to wait because he’d bought cheaply from a Peruvian.
    As much as Chino tried to control the island, it was impossible. Bali was a frenetic drug hub, a transit point to Asia and the Pacific, with the world’s biggest drug mafia coming to holiday, mingle, network, and organise deals in luxury hotels, in the sun, in paradise.
    Italian drug trafficker Sergio Boeri was friendly with the cartel players, including Rafael, who’d been to parties at his villa. Sergio flew in and out of Bali on false passports often, until the day he flew in to celebrate his gorgeous girlfriend’s 33rd birthday. Instead of spending the special day sipping French champagne in a luxurious villa, they both spent it on the concrete floor of Bali’s police cells.
    The alleged head of an Italian drug smuggling syndicate, Sergio Boeri, accused of trafficking at least 30 tons of cocaine and other narcotics from Brazil to Europe, was extradited from Bali to his homeland on Saturday night.
    Under heavy police guard, Boeri, 32, was taken from Bali Police Headquarters to the Ngurah Rai International Airport, where he was transferred into the custody of two Rome-based Interpol officers . . .
    Boeri, one of Interpol’s most wanted men, was caught by Bali Police on 18 August when he arrived at Ngurah Rai Airport with his girlfriend.
    â€“ Jakarta Post, 9 February 2002

CHAPTER SIX
    DREAM LIFE
    All the people in Bali started to know I was the guy who takes care of the coke business. I was the biggest show-off. Cars, motorbikes . . . I buy a Harley-Davidson, a 1-kilo gold necklace. I go out every night, spend money. I build my house and all the young people come here . . .
    They say, ‘Fuck, whose house is this? What does he do?’ ‘Dealing coke.’ ‘Oh, I wanna do too.’ And then they try, but they don’t have any connection. In the end they come to me, ‘Please help me, I have 10 kilos, 5 kilos, 3 kilos.’ And I become an agent for them.
    I have a collection – five bikes, Honda, Harley-Davidson . . . Fuck, I was crazy. I have one Kawasaki Ninja. People looked at me and asked, ‘Who is this guy with this bike?’ ‘He’s the Brazilian guy who takes care of the coke in Bali.’
    â€“ Rafael
    Rafael was living a decadent life, working hard and playing harder in a blaze of parties, orgies, surfing and drug dealing, often high from his own copious cocaine use. With horses now bringing up to 20 kilos some weeks, the cash was flying in fast.
    He’d built his dream