George Jung – Boston George – Biography

In the history of drug trafficking there are many, many famous names – some more than others, depending on the substance and time in history; either way there are some historical drug trafficking figures that deserve to be talked about.

In the field of cannabis and all things related to cannabis, we have the famous Howard Marks or Mr. Nice; when it comes to cocaine, Pablo Escobar was the most important drug trafficker up until 2011.

In 2011 El Chapo, Joaquin Guzman, became the most wanted drug trafficker in the entire world, and the second most searched for person in the world, sitting comfortably behind Osama Bin Laden. Washington was offering 7 million dollars for his capture – this man was in charge of the Sinaloa cartel, selling cocaine, cannabis, heroin and meth all over the world.

Pablo Escobar was considered the biggest drug trafficker in history, producing up to 20 tons of cocaine a month and selling it all over the world – he even had power over the government, who let him build his OWN PRISON in which to live out his sentence. In 1992 he “escaped” from his prison, and in 1993 he was either shot down by the police or he committed suicide – his family says that it was suicide whereas the official police story is that they killed him.

During the 70s, Pablo Escobar met with a person who helped him get the United States market going – George Jung, also known as Boston Jorge. Boston George, during the 60s, began getting into cannabis through some of his friends, who gave him access to the market. They began doing trips to Mexico to buy cheap cannabis and sell it in the States, around his area and slowly expanding outwards to universities all over the country.

After a few trips when everything was going really well, George was arrested for carrying 300kg of cannabis. In 1972 he was arrested in Chicago’s Playboy club with around 300kg, where there were apparently he said that “There were movie stars and rock stars. I became a pot star” – he then spend 26 months in prison.

When he went to prison he had a degree in cannabis but he left prison with a PhD in cocaine. He met someone there, Carlos Lehder, who gave him all the information he needed about cocaine and the cocaine market and also put him in contact with Pablo Escobar – this is where Boston George’s story gets interesting.

Between the 70s and the 80s, 90% of the cocaine that was entering the United States probably went through Escobar and George. The flights left straight from Pablo Escobar’s ranch, and they refueled in the Bahamas – the shipment would arrive and a friend of Georges, Richard Barile, would pick it up. In a slip of the tongue George presented Richard to Carlos, who then decided that he didn’t need the help of Escobar and he bought his own island in the Bahamas and took Richard with him, one of George’s best contacts.

In 1987 he was arrested again by the DEA in Massachusetts, possibly due to a tip off from Carlos himself who was working with the Colombian government to avoid extradition to the United States. It seems that, with the help of Escobar, George testified against Carlos and was let go.

He became bored with the absence of activity on the international drug market, and he wanted to do one last run to save some money and start a new life with his family but an ex co-worker of his ratted him out to the police – he was caught with 796kg of cannabis having moved it from Mexico to the United States and he got 30 years in prison, which was then reduced to 20 due to good behavior. George got out of prison on July 2^nd 2014, at the age of 71, with 8 years of limited freedom of movement.

George is an authentic artist when it comes to international trafficking, and he helped Pablo Escobar to dominate the cocaine market in the United States – between the two of them they moved hundreds of tons of cocaine around the entire world, supplying to artists, musicians, politicians and anyone else who was able to buy cocaine in those times.

Author: Fabio Inga
Translation: Ciara Murphy