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MY INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER

eight-month sentence, but with the benefit of Extra Muro, that was enough. I still had my signed release form from earlier in the year and as soon as the judges acquitted me of the new charges, I would be allowed to leave San Pedro. For the first time since Ricardo had left, I felt truly happy. I was absolutely one hundred per cent certain that I would be free in a matter of weeks. I went and bought two packets of cocaine to celebrate and sent for Roberto.

Earlier that week, there had been a rumour that the guards were about to conduct a surprise raid. The inmates hid their merchandise immediately, but when the guards didn't come on the night they had said, everyone began to relax again. I remained cautious, however, since they hadn't done a requisa for quite some time.

Roberto and I continued doing coke every night, but I made certain that we only ever bought one small pack at a time from my dealer, Comandante. I told Roberto that the safest place to hide any contraband was outside your room. That way, if the police came with dogs, they couldn't prove whose it was.

'And don't ever open the door without asking who it is first,' I told him. 'If the police knock, take as much time as you need to hide things. And spray deodorant in the air. If they get angry when you open the door, pretend that you've just woken up and you haven't had a shower.'

'OK, Thomas. I understand,' Roberto said, sniffing another line. But he didn't understand. Two nights later there was a requisa and he completely ignored what I had told him.

That evening Roberto knocked on my door as usual, but I was tired from the previous night's partying and wasn't in the mood to take coke again.

'I'm sorry. Do you worry if I only sit here for a very small time?' he asked. I just wanted to sleep but then I remembered how lonely I had been when I first arrived in San Pedro, so I let him in.

Roberto sat at my table sniffing lines and smoking ganja while I lay back in bed with the TV on, trying to stay awake in order to keep him company. Suddenly, word of a police search shot through the section. Doors opened and slammed shut as neighbours came out to warn each other. I heard feet scampering as inmates who were out visiting rushed back to their rooms to hide their contraband. Then the section