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Mistake #1: befriending a dealer
When I first started partying with this guy we had lots of fun. He was a good guy and a party animal. He had lived in Taiwan for seven years, spoke fluent Chinese, and knew practically everyone in town. He knew just where to go and could get us into any bar we wanted.
By his association to numerous gangsters and bosses, I soon understood that he engaged in some sort of irregular business. I knew he sold hash, but I thought it was a minor amount. He would come up with crazy schemes and blab them to me when he was drunk. He would spend absurd amounts of cash. He was once ripped off by some gangster for NT$200,000. He was in, and in deep.
"Take it easy man." I warned him. "You can't live that kind of lifestyle and walk away unscathed." He was too well known for his own good.
I should have known that by befriending him I was putting myself at risk.
Mistake #2: letting him stay at my place
This was clearly my biggest mistake. My roommate unexpectedly moved to Taipei leaving me with a three-bedroom apartment to myself. It was the end of the month and there was no time to find a new place. My dealer friend was also moving out and pleaded with me for him to stay at my place until I found a new place the next month. I said okay. Bad call!
I should have known when I saw him stuff a brick-sized chunk of hash into our fridge. I mentioned it and he assured it me it would be gone in a day or two. I figured he'd been doing this for years so it ought to be okay, right?
The previous night we had been at a local pub when the cops did one of their 'routine' raids--well, it may not have been so routine after all: the video camera, the questions, they even knew his name for chrissakes! When we got home, he was paranoid as hell and vowed to get rid of his stash.
I thought it was unbased paranoia, but earlier that week he had brought home some girl from the bar. After they had sex she went in to the next room and began searching through his stuff and then made a phone call. He heard her say something like "yeah, its here." I thought it was all in his head and dismissed it, but the girl turned out to be a newspaper reporter, as she told him that night, from the same newspaper that had his face plastered all over that Friday's edition. He was also on every news channel in the city. That's one dedicated reporter.
The police came to my house and arrested him. I didn't know until he called me that night. They got him with 50g of hash and babies on the windowsill, but the police said "don't worry, with just a small amount, you won't go to jail." To my astonishment he was home that night.
Mistake #3: trusting the police
In order to get a confession the cops will totally downplay the situation. They'll say: "No need for a lawyer", "It's no big deal", "It's just a small amount and it'll cost you NT$8000 just for him to show up and it won't make any difference because you're not selling." So, he didn't get a lawyer and confessed. Wrong move. They let him out--the reason for doing so, I realize now, was to track his every move and find out who his connections were. He freaked out and fled the country later that week. Good call.
Some police are corrupt here. They've been known to take bribes and live unlawful lives themselves; some have even admitted to using marijuana and taking part in other illegal acts. But remember, they will spy on you and try to trick you into incriminating yourself. The system here is hypocritical - much like anywhere. Just don't forget: they get paid a bonus for busting you.
Mistake #4: talking on the phone
Everyone does this without thinking. What we don't realize is that the police listen to our phone calls. They have English interpreters to translate taped phone calls. Everyone who calls or receives calls by anyone who is suspected becomes a suspect. That puts damn near every foreigner I know on the list--probably you, too. I've been told that text messages are much more difficult to track and they're safe, but I wouldn't trust that information.
After my friend left I heard nothing from the police for six months. He called me and asked me to sort out his loose ends, which I did. I moved houses and switched phones. I was not selling. Sure I had helped out some friends in need, as a favor as anyone does, but that is all.
Mistake #5: being lazy about hiding
After a while I relaxed and stopped worrying about the cops. I figured I was safe. I was wrong. Six months later the cops showed up at our house, warrant in hand, and searched our place. They found five grams of hash. Shit!
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