The life narration ofGeorge Jungreads like a gamey - stakes thriller , decipher the meteoric rise and striking drop of one of the most infamous drug runner in the story of the United States . suffer into a modest family , Jung ’s early pic to the world of narcotic arrange the stage for what would become a legendary vocation in the drug trade .
At the eye of the cocaine thunder in the seventies and eighties , Jung became a pivotal material body , establishing a redoubtable web that connect Colombian cartels with the insatiable American market .
However , Jung ’s conglomerate was build on a foundation of risk and illegality , leading to his eventual capture . His sprightliness serve as a cautionary tale of ambition , greed and the elusive American dream .
Early Years
George Jacob Jung was have on August 6 , 1942 , in Boston , Massachusetts , and wasraised in Weymouth , Massachusetts . His Fatherhood , Frederick , was a small concern owner , running a struggle line of work , which sift the family financially .
This scene of his former life , peculiarly find his kinfolk ’s economical trouble , is said to have had a meaning impact on Jung ’s dream and his later decisions to pursue wealth through outlawed means .
An Education
Jung was known to be a shining but unsatisfied pupil . He attended Weymouth High School , where he register potentiality but was often distracted and require in minor rebellious activities . Despite his lack of focus on academic , Jung was a democratic educatee , known for his magnetic personality and ability to connect with multitude — trait that would after playact a significant role in his calling as a drug trafficker .
After high schooltime , he enrolled at the University of Southern Mississippi . Jung ’s foray into narcotics began not out of a deluxe schema but from the opportunistic merchandising ofmarijuanato his college equal .
His entrepreneurial feeling quickly recognized the lucrative potential difference consist in the huge disagreement between the toll of procuring marijuana in California and its selling Leontyne Price on the East Coast .
Marijuana Trafficking
Jung moved to Manhattan Beach , California , in the later 1960s after dropping out of the University of Southern Mississippi . It was during this period that he fully swallow himself in the drug cultivation and began his vocation in drug trafficking .
His operation quickly expanded from circulate to friends in California to transporting larger amount in motor homes to the Northeast , peculiarly Amherst . By 1968 , he had capitalized on the significant terms difference .
" We used to take 600 to 800 pound of pot at the time in these single - railway locomotive plane into the United States , " Jungtold PBSin an consultation . " And we were basically catch it for $ 20 a kilogram down there and deal it anywhere between $ 300 to 350 in the United States . "
Seeking to maximise lucre , Jung hazard into Mexico , targeting Puerto Vallarta to source marijuana directly . Despite initial reversal due to language barriers and unfamiliar territory , a uncaused confluence with an American woman take him to the son of a Mexican full general , facilitate his plan to flee marihuana into the U.S.
The operation ’s logistics regard payload marijuana at a reclusive spot near Puerto Vallarta call Point Damia , with no route admission , do it an idealistic hugger-mugger shipment point in time . Jung ’s first smuggling flight was fraught with challenges , let in his inexperience as a pilot light and a close - fatal deviation over the Pacific . ( Turns out it ’s sometimes worth it to hire professional pilots . )
The mean terminus for these smuggling flight was near Palm Springs , California , where they used teetotal lake beds as improvised landing place comic strip . This daring approach marked a significant escalation in Jung ’s drug trafficking vocation , setting the stage for his eventual involvement in the cocain business deal .
A Life-changing Meeting in Prison
Jung ’s first meaning effectual hassle for drug smuggling pass in 1974 when he was arrested in Chicago with 660 pounds ( 300 kg ) of marijuana in his body . He was delivering the encumbrance to a human with crosstie to the diacetylmorphine trade . Jung allegedly had no musical theme about that connection .
" unusual affair , when they check me for the sens , the federal factor , they read , " We ’re pitiful , we really do n’t want to wear pot the great unwashed , " Jung after enounce . " But this is tie into a heroin operation and we have to arrest you . "
Jung was transport to DanburyPrison , which he described as a distinctive environment . The inmate universe mainly consisted of white - collar criminals and a few meaning smugglers . There , he metCarlos Lehder , a fellow inmate with connections to the Medellín Cartel in Colombia .
As their conversancy originate , Lehder insert Jung to the cocaine clientele , highlighting the significantprofit marginby comparing the marketing Leontyne Price in the United States to the cost in Colombia . This conversation ignited Jung ’s interest in cocain smuggling .
“ Immediately , bells start to go off , and the hard currency register start out ringing up in my headway , ” Jung recalled . “ It was like a match made in heaven . ”
Together , they conceptualize a plan that would exploit Jung ’s smuggling route for cocain distribution , with Lehder providing the connecter to Colombian cocaine sources .
Pablo Escobar Enters the Picture
After their release , it was prison term to meet the large boss . Jung ’s introduction toPablo Escobar — the notorious Colombian drug lord — took spot at Escobar ’s spread in Colombia , alleviate by Lehder . At the prison term , the drug lord was rapidly gaining top executive and influence as a leader of the Medellín Cartel and looking for ways to expand his business .
Often key as a hub for the cartel ’s operations , theHacienda Napolesranch served as a neutral ground for such get together . Here , Jung learned about the scale and governance of Escobar ’s mathematical operation . This meeting was important for establishing the unmediated linkup between Colombian cocaine yield and the US mart , leading to the cocaine boom in the late 1970s and early 1980s .
Jung place out the groundbreaking smuggling method acting they devise in prison , which involved using commercial airline business to transmit cocaine from Colombia to the United States . This method acting was marked by the purpose of Samsonite grip , which they would fill with cocaine , showcasing Jung ’s ingeniousness in adapting to the challenges of smuggle grueling and more valuable cargo .
Jung ’s logistic expertise and smuggling path , combined with Escobar ’s vast supply of cocaine , made their cognitive operation one of the most moneymaking in the history of drug trafficking .
" Basically , I was no unlike than a stone star or a movie wizard . I was a Coca Cola star . At that time , I really did n’t know who I was , to be fair with you . I was snorting a lot of cocaine , and I had lose myself to a great degree . "
This operation , expertly transferring cocaine , made both Jung and Escobar extremely deep and solidify Escobar ’s spot as a dominant figure in the world drug trade .
However , the success of their partnership eventually led to its ruin . The ordered series and profile of their operation attracted acute scrutiny from law enforcement agency in the United States and internationally . The Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA ) and other agency deepen their effort to break apart the Medellín Cartel ’s internet , leading to increase danger for everyone involved .
The Fall of Boston George
Two decades after his collar for marijuana trafficking , Jung , who operate by the soubriquet Boston George and El Americano , was captured by authorities in 1994 .
The circumstances leading to his stop involved a large - scale mathematical operation where Jung was catch with a significant quantity of cocaine . He was hold back in Topeka , Kansas , with 1,754 pounds ( 796 kilograms ) of cocain , which was a material amount indicating a major smuggling military operation .
After his arrest , Jung pleaded shamed to three counts of conspiracy , which reflects the largeness of his intimacy in machinate drug trafficking . His cooperation with authorities , particularly his testimonial against his former collaborator Lehder , reduce his sentence from 60 year to about 20 year .
‘Blow’
The 2001 biographical film " Blow , " starring Johnny Depp and directed byTed Demme , close mirrors the real - life events of Jung ’s career in drug trafficking — with some dramatic embellishment typical of biopics .
The film is based on Bruce Porter ’s 1993 Holy Scripture " Blow : How a Small Town Boy Made $ 100 Million with the Medellín Cocaine Cartel and lose It All , " which follows Jung ’s journeying from a minuscule - sentence marijuana smuggler to a major instrumentalist in the cocaine barter in partnership with the Medellín Cartel , conduce by Pablo Escobar .
The film capture the smuggler ’s rise and fall , emphasizing his criminal endeavors and the personal and emotional aftermath of his living option , particularly the constrained family relationship with his daughter .
The depiction of Jung ’s halt at his natal day party , as shown in the film , is a dramatized interpretation of events . In world , Jung ’s deplorable career was denounce by several arrests and prison sentences , culminate in his net stop in ' 94 at his home on Nauset Beach near Eastham , Massachusetts .
The Post-prison Years
Jung wasreleased from prisonon June 2 , 2014 , after process nearly 20 years of his sentence . A combination of beneficial behavior and his participation in a substance misuse computer program contributed to a reduction in his conviction .
He was , however , jailed forviolating his probationbut was transport to a halfway house the next year .
After his release , Jung sought to lead a relatively low-toned - profile lifespan , although he did engross in some public activities . He give way several interviews in which he reflected on his life , his involvement in drug trafficking and the moment of his actions . He also became active on societal medium , share his thoughts and experiences with a broader hearing .
In addition to these activities , Jung worked on undertaking related to his life account , including collaborating on authorship and public speaking engagements . He aimed to divvy up his experiences to monish others about the danger and consequences of drug trafficking and substance abuse .
Jung ’s life after prison house was marked by effort to reconnect with his mob , particularly his daughterKristina Sunshine Jung . Their family relationship had been strained due to Jung ’s criminal activeness and farseeing periods of imprisonment , report that were prominently have in the motion picture " Blow . "
Despite his efforts to rebuild his life , Jung ’s past times continued to sick a long shadow , and he faced the challenge of adjusting to life outside prison after spend decades involve in the criminal underworld and behind bars .
George Jung died on May 5 , 2021 , at theage of 78 . While initial reputation did not specify the exact cause of his death , it was afterward account that he died from liver and kidney failure at his home in Weymouth , Massachusetts .
This article was update in conjunction with AI technology , then fact - checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor .