''Mr Nice'' is the autobiography of former drug dealer

Howard Marks Dennis Howard Marks (13 August 1945 – 10 April 2016) was a Welsh drug smuggler and author who achieved notoriety as an international Cannabis (drug), cannabis smuggler through high-profile court cases. At his peak he claimed to have been sm ...

. Published in 1996, it became an international bestseller due in large part to the humour and unabashed bravado the author uses to describe his life and the sheer scale of his drug deals involving, among others, the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

, the IRA and

the Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other organized crime groups from Italy. The central ...

. The book received mostly positive reviews, though some critics were initially sceptical of some of the more outlandish details portrayed. It was adapted for film in 2010 as ''

Mr Nice ''Mr Nice'' (US title ''Mr. Nice'') is a 2010 crime drama film written and directed by Bernard Rose, ''Mr Nice'' is in part a biopic, a loose film adaptation of '' Mr Nice'', the cult 1997 autobiography by Howard Marks. The film features an en ...

''.

Overview

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

born Marks began small scale dealing of

hashish Hashish (; ), usually abbreviated as hash, is a Compression (physics), compressed form of resin (trichomes) derived from the cannabis flowers. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, As a Psychoactive drug, psychoactive ...

in the late 1960s while at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

studying

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...

and, later, a postgraduate degree course in philosophy. His activities rapidly expanded after a chance meeting with a Pakistani supplier made him realise how lucrative drug smuggling could be. After teaming up with Jim McCann, a senior member of the IRA, his business was soon bringing in huge amounts of cash and he began setting up various legitimate businesses as a front, to

launder Launder or Launders may refer to: * Launder (surname) * Launders (surname) See also

* Laundering (disambiguation), several types of washing, literally or metaphorically {{Disambiguation ...

the proceeds of his hashish smuggling. At one time he claims to have had 25 such companies, 89 phone lines and 43 aliases, including the name used for the title of this book, Mr Nice, an alias he adopted after buying a passport from a convicted murderer of that name. Following his arrest in 1980 in a combined operation by British and Spanish police, Marks managed to avoid a lengthy sentence by claiming to be a spy for the British intelligence agency MI6. He was eventually caught again, this time by the American

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domes ...

, and sentenced to life in prison at

Terre Haute Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and its metropolitan area had a population of 168,716. Located along the Wabash River about e ...

federal penitentiary in Indiana. He was released after seven years and allowed to return to the UK.

Film adaptation

The book was adapted into a film ''

'' in 2010, directed by Bernard Rose and starring

Rhys Ifans Rhys Owain Evans (; born 22 July 1967), known as Rhys Ifans, is a Welsh actor. He has portrayed roles in ''Notting Hill'' (1999), '' Kevin & Perry Go Large'' (2000), and '' Enduring Love'' (2004), in addition to Xenophilius Lovegood in ''Harry ...

and

Chloë Sevigny Chloë Stevens Sevigny ( ; born November 18, 1974) is an American actress. Known for her work in independent films with controversial or experimental themes, her accolades include a Golden Globe Award, in addition to a nomination for an Acade ...

References

External links

Howard Marks interview

Live stand up show
{{Authority control Welsh biographical books 1996 non-fiction books Secker & Warburg books British autobiographies Works about cannabis trafficking Non-fiction books about cannabis British works about cannabis Memoirs about drugs