Paa Joe Odonkor’s story seems like a movie. According to Paa Joe, even though he came from a religious background, with his father being the first Black moderator of the Presbytery, he was tough and daring.
Narrating the genesis of his involvement with drugs, he said he began as a courier or a drug messenger.
His first courier
Read full articlejob fetched him an amount of money he had never set his eyes on.
This changed his life to the extent that even his mannerisms changed. He bought his first car – a Gulf.
His taste grew, he said, adding that this made him do the job again.
“Somebody carried me as a courier or a messenger for 4000 dollars, you go, somebody meets you at the airport and takes the stuff, go and sells it for maybe 200,000 dollars, maybe yours is 4000 dollars but I was happy because I have not held 2000 dollars before.
"So, when I came, my walking had changed, I was bouncing like a Tennis ball, then I bought my first car, Gulf which wasn’t bad but then along the line my taste grew I went again the second time, this time I got 8000 dollars and I did courier or drug messenger for weed for close to one and a half year,” he said in a yen.com interview.
After about a year of being a courier, he got introduced to Pablo Escobar’s people.
According to him, Escobar may be infamous for all the bad things, but he is his hero. He noted that Pablo was a good man who helped the poor.
Pablo gave him the option of either working in a shoe factory to gain genuine money or working in a drug factory and becoming a millionaire.
He recalls that working with the Mexican drug lord fetched him more money.
He lived lavishly, slept in the best hotels, bought luxurious cars, and traveled around the world.
Paa Joe said “But fortunately, or unfortunately, the Americas were hunting down Pablo Escobar. Some people call him infamous but he is my hero because he took care of the poor.
"Pablo Escobar was making close to 800,000 million to 1 billion a day because he was controlling all the networks in the world."
"He was giving scholarships and taking care of the poor. Pablo Escobar will ask you; do you want Plato or promo? That is, you want to work in a factory, that is a singlet factory or sandal factory. You will get some motor or some small car, genuine money. But if you want to work in a drug factory, you will become a millionaire.
“Pablo doesn’t take sorry; he won’t give you a second chance because it is a dangerous trade. So, when I met his people, they got me involved and I got 150,000 dollars and I bought DMC 12, up till now I’ve not seen GMC 12 in Ghana. I was just 25 years, I felt good because money is power,” he added.
Paa Joe noted that his deepest regret in life is getting addicted to drugs.
He said this drained him of all the riches he had acquired.
The former BBC staff also said he should have not gotten involved in drug dealing because he was unlucky and had to spend almost 30 years in prison.
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Paa Joe Odonkor is a former drug dealer
