Garth Henriques Memoirs of a Jamaica Gentleman

Mega-cash, ganja, easy sex, fast cars, and reggae combined with fifteen minutes of fame," is how Garth Henriques looks back on his life. A charming man and a natural story teller, this now reformed drug smuggler describes his roller-coaster life from an innocent school boy to a prison graduate. He started out innocently in the '60s hippie-subculture of free-love, flower power, Woodstock and acid and graduated to criminality, drug-smuggling and a life of high-jinks and adventure. It is an inspirational autobiography of an unconventional Jamaican entrepreneur and gentleman who became involved with smuggling weed, first taking it across the waters to friends and then to a broader customer base. It is a story of risk-taking, adventure, avarice and betrayal and an open view of his life consumed by drugs and alcohol. It details what motivated Garth to behave outrageously in his quest for the search of green gold and ultimately happiness which always seemed to elude him. An entertaining tale, he describes his adventures and misadventures, the many unique individuals he met and the camaraderie; also how he cultivated drug contacts and discovered the best places to find and purchase top-quality weed. His life started out innocently enough. In prep school he did well and was a champion swimmer and athlete. He first tried weed in high school but what launched his career into criminality was his participation with three other teenagers, Colin, Alistair and David, in two nights of a spectacular string of smash and grab robberies across the island that ended in their arrest. That participatory act changed his life forever and took him on a life path with its ups and downs and into the drug world. By profession, he was a salesman and a high earner in his field and this was of great help to him in his dealings on his unusual path to the ultimate deal. Though he made many multi-million deals it never panned out as he expected and he never made that big score as more often than not the deals went south, there were betrayals and rip-offs, boats sank and planes crashed and the allure of big money mostly evaporated into thin air. It all came to an end when he ended up going to prison on a manslaughter charge where he did time in the General Penitentiary in Kingston, Jamaica. This was a devastating turning point in his life. His actions led to the end of his marriage and he was not there for the crucial adolescent years of his two sons, Sean Paul and Jason. Despite all that happened in his life he has no regrets as things would not have turned out the way they did. That is the one thing of which he is overproud and that is the accomplishments of his two sons, that despite their difficult circumstances, they have attained much success in the entertainment industry. At the end of the day, he would like his book to be a guide to young people to learn from his lessons, to eschew the allure of a quick buck, to work hard for what you want and make an honest living.