Original subtitles

For my age, I was a smart girl, but I could have been much smarter.

I was 19 years old. When you're 19, you don't know what you're doing. I'm Simone

Blitner.

Shall we sit?

I felt like such a badass, but in that split second, everything changed.

I'm losing control of the situation.

Chris, what are you doing?

This is not what you see in the movies.

They're going to kill me.

I thought I'd never get caught.

How naive I was.

It was 2013, and I was 19 years old.

and I was involved in a serious crime.

My

job

was to get cocaine from drug mules at Johannesburg airport.

You must be wondering, how on earth does a 19 -year -old get mixed up in all of

this?

I have a cleft palate, so regular jobs wouldn't hire me.

So this is what I did.

The drug mules would give me the bags full of the drug, and I would pay them.

I knew it was illegal, but I was making my own way to survive every day.

My mom wasn't around, and my father and I had a very difficult relationship,

which was me against the world.

You hungry?

Yeah. Help yourself.

I was working for a guy called Manny, and he's a Nigerian drug lord in South

Africa. Our relationship was more than just business.

Manny became like this father figure to me. He introduced me to his children and

his family.

Sylvia and the kids want to see you.

Yeah? She's asking if you want to come for dinner on Saturday.

Yeah, of course, I'm there.

Before Manny, I was exposed to everything that you see on the streets,

it's drugs, whether it's alcohol. It made me very street smart.

But working for Manny, it meant that I didn't have to worry about where's the

money coming from? How am I going to pay the bills?

Well done.

I felt like I owed everything to Manny.

One day, Manny phones me.

Hey, Manny. He says I need to meet him now at the restaurant.

Yeah, sure.

See you in ten.

Okay. Bye. I had no idea what it was about.

Hi, Baba.

Hey, girl.

Hi. You looking skinny?

No, don't be silly.

I ordered you a burger.

Great, I'm starving.

Nanny and I have been working together for a couple of years now. Then I became

a huge part of his cocaine operation.

You know you are my right -hand lady, eh?

Yeah, of course.

You know we need a new supplier?

Yeah. Well, I think I found the right guy.

His name's Antonio. He's from Bolivia.

Okay.

I need you to go to Bolivia.

I need you to go and check on the product and close the deal.

Manny, are you sure I can do this?

I mean, I'm 19 years old. I don't have a passport.

I've never traveled alone.

I couldn't even speak Spanish.

Of course you can do this.

It felt good because it gave me a sense of...

He really does trust me. If I knew what I knew now,

I would never have gone to Bolivia.

I was so excited, you know. I couldn't wait to explore Bolivia.

It felt very different from home.

Everything just feels so foreign.

I was so caught up on the moment that I actually kind of forgot what I was doing

here.

I got a message on my cell phone from Chris, Manny's guy out there in Bolivia.

He organized the whole meeting with Antonio.

This meeting was so important.

I went and I bought a purple blouse.

These nice black heels.

I was dressed like this classy businesswoman.

I didn't want them to think that I was just this 19 -year -old child who knew

nothing about the business.

Chris just walked straight past me and paced the taxi driver.

He didn't even acknowledge me.

Oh, hello, how are you? How was your flight? That's kind of what I was

expecting.

As soon as I saw how casual it was inside there, I felt so ridiculous in

heels.

It was just men, and I was the only female.

I sat down next to Chris.

He was very unwelcoming, very weird.

I mean, I'm a grown -ass woman. I don't need him to be ordering drinks for me.

And then, this tall guy walks in.

Hey, hey, Antonio.

He's so well -groomed, and you can just see that he's a man of class.

This is the girl from South Africa.

Hi.

Many always knew how to talk to his clients with such power, and

I'm like, you know what? Screw it.

I can do that too.

As far as I'm concerned, I'm the one you should be speaking to.

I believe I should make my own introduction.

I sound confident, but back then, I was... myself.

I'm Simone Blidner.

Shall we sit?

So I hear you have good product.

I would like to come and see what you have on offer.

I said to him, I'm here to offer you a good business deal.

And if you can't offer me the same thing that I offer you, then there's no point

having this meeting.

It was important that I portray myself as a strong character

because It determines whether or not he was going to show me his lab, and I

needed to see his products.

So I'll see you tomorrow.

And don't worry, Liz.

We are going to the jungle.

I actually didn't.

But I still have to meet them tomorrow.

That is the real test.

The next day, Antonio Sky and Chris fetched me from my hotel.

We drive deep into the jungle.

And I'm like, oh, my gosh.

Why do men have guns?

I started to panic, you know.

Maybe I was too confident at the meeting.

Maybe they're just taking me somewhere so no one can hear me scream.

They're going to kill me.

Nobody knew where I was.

Was I crazy to be out here with all these men?

So finally, right there in the middle of the rainforest, there was this cocaine

lab.

When someone says a lab, you're expecting to see scientists with white

holding those chemistry mixing glasses.

It was not like anything I had expected.

I see Antonio snap for one of his workers.

Back in South Africa, many had showed me how to taste goods, how to test goods.

But I never tried cocaine like this.

My product is 100 % pure.

You've got a deal.

I couldn't believe, like, I'm 19 years old and I had just closed a big

drug deal.

I was looking forward to going home.

I'd achieved what I had come here for.

I was just so excited to tell Manny the good news, you know.

Hey, Manny.

Hi.

And I'm like, Manny, you won't believe what happened.

I closed the deal. I totally pulled it off. We were in business.

Thank you, Manny. Thank you. Thank you so much.

So, yeah, basically, I went up there and then I saw the cocaine lab and Antonio

actually came up to me and then he... Yeah?

Seeing as you are in Bolivia, I need to bring some of the product back with you.

Um, sorry, I didn't quite catch that. What did you say?

I cannot believe what I just heard.

No, that's ridiculous. Are you kidding me?

I was just supposed to go on a business trip and close a business deal.

You had the drugs on me. It was very dangerous.

No, I'm not doing that. I'm not one of your drug mules, Manny.

No, I'm not doing it.

It felt like this is a completely different human being.

I didn't know what to do.

The only person that is going to be able to help me is my father.

But I couldn't call my father.

Most of my childhood, I lived with my father.

He raised me by himself.

I was like Daddy's little girl, you know.

But we had a very difficult relationship.

I hadn't spoken to my father in such a long time.

If he knew that I was about to be a drug mule, this would tear our relationship

forever.

Simone!

I've seen Manny do things to people that say no to him.

And I didn't want that to happen to me.

So I said to him, Manny, you know what?

I'll do it.

My flight was the next day.

And I knew that I had to get ready.

From that moment, everything completely changed.

Chris told me to his house.

I knew that through him, I'm nobody.

I'm just this drug mule.

I really felt like I'm losing control.

of the situation.

Go to the room and relax.

And suddenly, he locked the door.

Chris?

What are you doing?

I try opening the door.

Chris?

Chris?

I looked through the keyhole and I'm trying to understand why he's locked me

this room.

It looked like he was taking condoms and trying to squeeze them inside

shampoo bottles.

I couldn't see how many bottles there were or how many times he did it.

But I knew that I was in a lot of trouble.

The next morning,

It was the 31st of March, 2013, and I will never forget that

day, ever.

Back in South Africa, I had met drug mules at the airport many times, but I

had never seen a drug mule myself.

This is a big risk, you know.

The last thing Chris said to me was, Don't touch your bags, okay?

And that was it.

When I got to the airport, I sold the check -in desk to where I had to go.

You know that feeling when you feel like everybody is watching you and everybody

knows.

My heart was, ooh, it was pounding.

And I knew that I have to put on my best act.

Hi, I would like to check into my flight to South Africa.

Your passport, please?

Yeah, sure.

Thank you. You're back here, please.

The

lady

looked up at me and she paused.

Wait a minute, please.

I have a bad feeling.

My heart jumped straight up to my throat.

Okay.

Thank you. And then she just gives me my ticket.

I kind of felt a sense of relief, but it's not over yet.

You still have to wait for the flight to take off.

I'm not safe until that door closes.

And I'm like, oh gosh, you know, please just let that door close, let that door

close.

And I'm like, whew.

Where is the flight attendant? Because I need a drink.

Why did I ever doubt myself?

I didn't.

I said to myself, when I get home, I'm changing my life, I'm going back to

school, and I'm not going to continue in this business any longer.

The planes got a taxi towards the runway.

I am nearly there.

Then all of a sudden, the plane stops.

What's happening?

They are speaking Spanish. I don't understand a word of what's going on.

And then the flight attendant points to me.

The police grabbed me and pulled me by my hair and by my shirt and treated me

like I was some kind of terrorist.

That really, wow, that really made me feel like

my whole world has just fallen apart.

They took me to some kind of investigation room in the back of the

The director of the airport then opens the first bag.

Moves the clothes, looks around, sees shampoo bottles.

Doesn't seem so suspicious.

I think I might just get away with this, you know.

But then he

opens the second bag.

Immediately you see this liquid all over the bag and this condom

just lying there.

And I looked at him in shock and I'm like, no, shampoo, shampoo.

I know that right now, honestly, it's not going to be the best policy.

So I said to him, I met somebody in Bolivia who gave me the drugs and took

my passport so that I can't go home unless I bring back the drugs back to

Africa. Which was absolute nonsense.

Something is not making sense. This is a lot of drugs.

And I cannot believe my eyes.

Sixteen kilos.

Manny said that I would be bringing back six.

That's why Chris locked me in the room.

He didn't want me to see how much kilos he was putting in my bag.

I was in deep trouble because in South America, this is the motherland of

cocaine. It's a big crime.

And I think, you know what?

I'm not handcuffed.

The door is unlocked.

These thighs, they're pretty old. I can outrun them.

And I said to myself,

I'm going to open this door and I'm going to run for my life.

Because if I don't do it now, I'm going to be taken away for a very long

time.

It was now or never.

I'm running and I'm running and I'm running for my life.

I'm gone, you know.

Nobody is going to catch me.

And all of a sudden, bang, I fall over.

In that moment, you know, I lost my freedom.

So they took me to the female prison in Cochabamba.

One of the sergeants, he mumbled something in Spanish.

Quitate la ropa.

What?

Quitate la ropa.

La ropa, hijita, la ropa.

Just like, take your clothes off, you know. Quitate.

And she's like, indicating for me to take off my underwear.

And I was like, what?

I

had

never stood in front of somebody naked before.

Dorothy! Dorothy!

All these emotions

have been building itself up.

And I'm at that point where I'm going to collapse.

I will never forget the day I stepped foot into that prison.

In front of me is this huge patio, and there's so many inmates.

And I look up.

On top of the roof, I see male police officers holding big guns, walking

Not one person has a uniform on.

This is not what you see in the movies.

I can feel all these women staring at me.

And I'm feeling so uncomfortable.

They put me in this big room full of 50 women.

Everybody is literally on top of each other because there's no space.

Lena, there was an inmate.

She seemed like one of those women that were in charge, you know, one of those

women that had so much power in the prison, you know.

I was scared of her.

Aya.

Who's running this place?

The inmate?

I am now petrified because I don't know what any of these women are capable of.

I can feel my eyes watering

up and my tears sitting on my throat.

I can't believe.

that I'm in an actual South American prison.

The next day, I went to go have a shower.

When I walked into the bathroom, it smelled like urine and everything was

so dirty.

I'm showering and I'm thinking about the myth that I was in.

And suddenly...

I could hardly breathe and I could feel myself losing oxygen.

I managed to grasp that little bit of air.

But then I remember the razor.

I just took that razor.

And I just sliced her.

But then, she just turned around and walked out.

I knew that I had to call home.

My dad had no idea where I was or what I got myself into.

But I didn't want to phone him because I ended up making

the same mistake that my mother did.

She wasn't around growing up because she had been in prison in Chile for

smuggling cocaine.

Always said to my father when I was younger, Dad, don't worry.

I won't be like my mother.

And it backfired.

Because look where I am.

I'm trying so hard not to cry.

I'm like...

Dad, it's Simone.

Simone, it's two o 'clock in the morning.

Where are you?

I'm in prison.

What?

I'll come now. No, no.

You can't.

I'm in Bolivia.

Is this one person?

that I really didn't want to disappoint.

It was my father.

I'm really sorry, Dad.

I messed up.

What have you done, Simone?

I have to go, Dad. I'm sorry.

That's when it finally hit me that I am in prison and this is real.

I literally couldn't believe the situation that I was in.

A few days had gone by

and I didn't feel that the eyes were on me anymore.

No problemo.

Maybe because I cut her,

people thought that I'm strong and I'm pretty tough.

It was like a community of women.

And I felt like I had been accepted.

Over time, I got to realize that it is not like your average prison.

If you want to use the toilet, you have to pay.

If you want to eat, you've got to buy your own food.

Everything you do, you have to pay for.

So... I got a job in the bakery and I found out that one of the most

difficult things, being a foreigner, is the fact that you can't speak the

language.

So I began to learn the language as quick as I possibly could.

A lot of the women inside that prison were in for drug trafficking, just like

me.

My father couldn't come see me.

I love you. But I phoned him a lot to try and repair

what I had broken.

And surprisingly, there was no better place to do it but in prison.

Months had gone by and I still had not been sentenced.

The inmate on the microphone calls me down and says,

which means, Simone, you've got a visitor.

And I was like, OK.

I didn't know who it was.

There was this man waiting for me.

Hi, Simone. I'm Joseph. Hi. Please have a seat.

I'm an American lawyer here in Bolivia, and I heard about your case and I wanted

to help you.

Why me?

Simone, you could be facing 28 years in prison.

I felt my heart sink.

That's my whole life gone.

I have a better idea how to get you out sooner.

It's called an indulto.

He told me that it's a law that they think they're going to bring back to all

inmates that are in jail for drug trafficking because of how overcrowded

all the prisons have become in Bolivia.

What? In other words, it's a presidential pardon.

But the condition was that I had to sign for eight years now.

For me, I had to weigh up the options.

I could take my case to trial.

Although the alternative is that I could sign this piece of paper and not go to

trial with the hopes that Induso will come along and I can go out

free.

My stomach felt sick.

I'm a teenager.

I don't know my rights.

I decided to take that risk and sign for ATLs.

Simone, good luck to you.

I'm excited now because I'm finally given hope.

And they're like, Simone, indulto doesn't exist anymore.

I felt so stupid.

I could not survive inside this prison.

Eight whole years.

Every month, I had this high expectation that Nkjoto will come along,

but it never did.

I was going to have to face eight more years away from home and away from my

father.

I had too much time on my hands to think about my past all over again.

You know you are my right -hand lady, eh? Of course.

Manny used me.

He used me to...

go and fetch 16 kilos of cocaine.

That made me hate him so much.

It made me angry at myself for trusting him.

I wondered if Antonio and Chris knew that I was supposed to

be a drug mule.

This is a girl from South Africa.

Hi.

But we'll never know.

For my age, I was a smart girl.

But I could have been much smarter.

I should have dumped the drugs and gone back home.

I should have apologized to my father.

But I need to take responsibility for what I did.

This is my own fault.

I was getting used to the fact that I might have to call this place home for a

very, very, very long time.

And suddenly, I can hear so many women in the prison screaming.

And I'm like, what is going on here?

And I'm like... Que? Que? What? You know, what's going on?

The president of Bolivia

is announcing that Intuitlo has come back into the system.

I phoned my father.

I'm like, Dad!

Guess what? And he's like, what? What? Are you okay? I'm like, I'm getting out.

I'm getting out.

The days finally come for me to be released.

And we were all waiting with anticipation for our names to get called

And then, I finally heard us.

You are a free woman.

I immediately just rushed across the road.

My life, my freedom had been given back to me.

took in the fresh air, air of freedom,

air of a new life.

Everything was just so beautiful.

Since I've been home, I've changed my life completely.

I finished school and I got a legal job, a proper job.

I've rebuilt my relationship with my father.

And I'm so glad that I can have him a part of my life again.

My family, you know, my father.

These are the only people that are going to matter in my life.

And I stay away from the people that are bad for me now.

I was lost. I was misguided.

I went to Bolivia.

I thought I knew everything, but I was a child.

And I came home a woman.