Marks with his wife Judy, who met in 1970 before splitting in 2003 Marks famously pleaded not guilty, claiming that secret agencies had set up an identity as a drug smuggler for him in order to close the net on other criminals. Upon his arrest he was in possession of numerous pieces of incriminating evidence, including £30,000 in cash. In 1980, Marks was arrested by Customs Officers in the UK for his part in importing £15 million of cannabis. His involvement in smuggling cannabis soon escalated and eventually took him around the world, forcing him to rely on multiple identities and a well-connected network of friends to evade justice.īy 1972, he was making £50,000 with each shipment, some of which would weigh up to 30 tons.īy the end of the year he was approached by MI6 agent and university friend Hamilton McMillan, who recruited Marks to work for the intelligence agency thanks to his connections in Lebanon, Pakistan and Afghanistan, for his ability to seduce women and for his IRA contacts. He soon made contacts in Europe, who were impressed with his ability to evade authorities and used him to transfer money over borders given his lack of a criminal record. It was after leaving university that Marks graduated from taking the drug to dealing and selling it, starting out in London, Brighton and Oxford.

His fascination and love of the drug would eventually led to him missing many of his classes as he skipped lessons for long sessions getting stoned, but he managed to get his catch up before the end of the year to secure passes in his finals.

It was during his student days in Oxford that Marks was first introduced to drugs and, most significantly, cannabis. He attended grammar school in his country og Birth and secured good enough grades to get an interview at Balliol College, Oxford, where he would read physics from 1964 to 1967. Howards Marks was born in 1945 in Kenfig Hill, south Wales, the son of a merchant navy sailor and a teacher. In 1996, Marks' memoir Mr Nice sold more than a million copies

Mr. Nice by Howard Marks