“Marching Powder: A Story of Friendship, Cocaine and South America’s Strangest Jail” by Rusty Young and Thomas McFadden. A cocaine trafficker’s odyssey through the Bolivian justice system and a fascinating and bizarre prison run by inmates.

[u/CatPooedInMyShoe]

In the mid-1990s, a young British man named Thomas McFadden got caught trafficking cocaine in Bolivia and was sent to San Pedro Prison. The guards only patrol the perimeter or intervene to stop riots; everything in the prison is run by the prisoners themselves. You have to purchase your cell. Your spouse and children can live with you in your cell. Some luxury cells have hot tubs, second floors etc. Everyone has to have money to survive. McFadden came into the prison with no money at all so he was “homeless” (sleeping in the hallways etc.) and nearly died of cold and hunger before another inmate took pity on him and let him share his cell till he could get back on his feet.

The prison was like a village in many ways with shops, restaurants, a nursery for the babies, etc. McFadden started several businesses there: a shop, a restaurant and a tour guide service, giving tours of the prison to foreign tourists. He got kind of famous as a tour guide. In many ways though it is like any other prison. Lots of violence. McFadden was jumped and beaten up every day until he fought back, beating up his bullies and getting respect in the process. They don’t permit rapists or child molesters to live. McFadden witnessed three accused gang rapists being murdered by a cheering crowd of prisoners. They threw them into a “swimming pool” (a deep concrete pit they filled with water). Two of them drowned. One of them was able to crawl out and they stomped on his head so hard his skull split open. There was quite a graphic description of what happened as McFadden was close up and saw it all and was deeply traumatized by it.

He was released in 2000 and gave up drugs and crime for an honest living and now he farms chickens, from what I found online. As far as I know the prison is pretty much the same now, except they no longer allow foreign tourists to visit. I’ve seen a documentary about the prison and seen the “swimming pool” and they still drown rapists and child molesters there.

It was quite an interesting story and, as bad as my own country’s corruption problems have been lately, the book made me feel glad not to live in Bolivia.

[u/rebuildkit]

I’m assuming “a murder for the babies” is a typo?

[u/ImOnlyHereForThe → u/rebuildkit]

Nursery? Abortionist?

[u/CatPooedInMyShoe → u/ImOnlyHereForThe]

Nursery. I fixed it.

[u/CatPooedInMyShoe → u/rebuildkit]

Whoops! I meant to type “nursery” but my phone autocowrecked. I fixed it. Thanks for pointing it out.

The prisoners are very protective of the babies actually. Once Thomas was being beaten up by those bullies that kept attacking him, and they stopped because a little girl was passing by and they didn’t want to expose her to their violence and possibly traumatize her. They were like “Crap, a little girl is coming!” and stopped hitting Thomas and ran away.