Smuggler's Blues

A thrill seeker loses his leg in a parachute accident so his dream to get a slice of the good life as a commercial pilot is off the table and plan B leads him to the dark side where he becomes the biggest smuggler in U.S. history. At first, survival is a fortuitous game of cat-and-mouse with the DEA until dark forces build evading Colombian’s with itchy trigger fingers and finally, betrayal, that leads him to a most unlikely ally.

The Man: Dick is a thrill-seeker and certified adrenalin junky. If he gets downwind of a cute girl, hormones and adrenalin collide transforming a mild-mannered Dick into a showboat with swagger. To Dick, danger is just a calculated risk. Affable, and a fun guy to be around, he truly cares for ‘his people’. Picture a gentleman who doesn’t smoke, drink or do drugs, hates paperwork, loses things all the time and can’t keep track of money. That’s Dick. If a law is in his way he goes around it. He’s a disorganized mess who simply wants to cut a swathe through life and live large. He’s a good ol’ boy with a singular mission in life; to be the best damn pilot the world has ever seen. He has mad skills in a plane, any plane. Everything else in life – not so much.

The Story: Dick pushes the limits on himself and his planes as he flies crop dusters and transports in any kind of weather. When he loses his leg in a parachute accident he can no longer be a commercial pilot. He refuses to give up his plans for a slice of the good life so he must find a Plan B. As fate would have it, a friend of his ‘knows a guy’ looking for a pilot with mad skills. Dick goes to an ‘interview’ and is strapped to a lie detector by The Enforcer. This man works for ‘The Company’, a drug empire, and this is the beginning of Dick’s adventures smuggling marijuana from Colombia. He flies into the heart of monstrous storms and dodges DEA chase planes through smugglers alley. After several runs, a few near misses and some great parties Dick, and three of his crew, are captured by the Colombian version of the DEA. He is taken to an old Colombian prison in Riohacha thinking this is the end of the line. The Company gives a guy with connections $200,000 to pay bribes to break Dick out. Less than a week later the great escape is complete with fire, explosions, a strategic power outage and a few bribed guards. A frustrated DEA learns of their escape so they up the ante. Dick flies home to discover The Company is now the most sought after smuggling operation in the free world. He wants out but needs money. He spends it, or loses it, faster than he makes it. He tries to set up his own shop but on his first run Dick pays a Colombian who steals the load from the supplier who then sends a kill squad to hunt Dick down. The boss of The Company kidnaps his girl forcing Dick to make one last run. He makes the run but makes a deal with the DEA if they help him free the girl. When Dick is double-crossed by the boss the DEA takes down the load and the players but Dick discovers the girl is with the Enforcer and the boss so gets his pound of flesh in a final battle to free his girl then turns himself in.