2010 was a turning point in the life of a man who, overwhelmed by economic hardship, took the risky route of drug trafficking. He ended up in prison, nothing more and nothing less than in China.

Henry Rodríguez, father of three, was a language and history teacher in Colombia.

13 years ago he was overcome by debt and depression, after the death of his mother, he confesses to El Espectador.

Due to the pain of losing her mother, she left behind the life she dedicated to educating students. He stopped teaching. By not earning an income, the situation at home worsened.

The problems started with my wife, who told me she paid for everything. The lawyer of the social savings bank even called at night, he recalls

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Drugs and the move to China

Rodríguez tells how he ended up in the dark world of drugs and in distant China. He says that in “an old Carrefour (trade chain) in the 20 de Julio district, one of those friends was found who was in “shady business”.

He confessed that he couldn’t handle the debts and “They suggested going to Kazakhstan as a “mule”. and take 700 grams of cocaine, in exchange for money: 15 thousand dollars.

Touched by temptation, he took the next step. Former professor Rodríguez says “he swallowed more than a dozen Coke capsules.”

He traveled to Kazakhstan, “where he was received by three people, to whom he gave the capsules after expelling and washing them.”

Temptation came again, they convinced him with 10 thousand dollars to go to Beijing, China. Like a “mule” he got on a plane again. After a six-hour flight, he set foot on Chinese soil, where he was taken care of in a rented apartment.

Reality drastically changed in less than 24 hours. “The next day the señor del Carrefour arrived.

I said, ‘That’s yours. I’ve delivered it twice already. I need my money. I have to go.

He replied, “Wait until the buyer arrives.” One of the gentlemen who was in Kazakhstan arrived. It was a false positive. Within minutes, Rodríguez was surrounded by about 20 police officers.

“They were dressed like in the Schwarzenegger movies. Then I realized I was sold. One is stubborn. But it is that I did not have a return ticket and I had already smelled them. I was captured from one of them,” Rodríguez told the press in his country.

From there, they locked him up in a detention center, where he spent eight months. He was only allowed to call once to inform his family of the seriousness of the matter.

In China, this Colombian man was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Because of good behavior, they reduced his sentence. In cells he spent 12 years. Today he is in Bogotá, with his family.

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Life in prison in China

Rodríguez looks to the past: “In Beijing, we had six men, including two women, and two sentenced to death. Life for the death row inmates was terrible. They chain their hands and feet.”

“They suffered. They were like chains from the Inquisition days. Fat. Those are bad people, from China. They left their feet marked. I remember one died while in a cell,” he describes.

Prison life was spent “in cells as small as a bathroom, where a maximum of 12 people could sleep”. He tells that the days religiously started at 06:00. They bathed him with his clothes on.

If the policeman woke up in a good mood, he would get him changed, if he didn’t have to stay that way all day

– And the food?, they ask.

– Rice with cabbage and water. With luck, snake meat or “sancocho de perro” was served on Chinese New Year.

“The hunger was so terrible that the Africans ate the prison grass,” he says.

When he returned home, revived 12 years after giving birth, he commented that he was impressed with how technology has progressed and how many things have changed.

At the age of 64, he told the press: “I can’t with this television (…) now it’s all movies. The children tell me to be patient, that I am learning. Now all appointments and accounts are with mobile phones. One is crazy.”