In the money laundering business, where mistakes could result in a twenty-year vacation, courtesy the Federal Bureau of Prisons, or even termination of your employment with extreme prejudice, you need to keep your sense of humor. When the clients suffered setbacks that could result in your immediate arrest, you had to roll with the punches, practice damage control, and if necessary cut their losses as efficiently as possible. And things had a habit of going south without warning; that's the nature of crime. One time, two clients tearfully called me to come for a visit late at night. They had recently smuggled some prime grade marijuana in from Jamaica and, secreting it artfully in the attic of their Coral Gables home, had gone off on a vacation. They returned to find their house broken into, with only the drugs missing. Had there been a breach of security, or had a member of their crew ripped them off? We never found out. Episodes like that will make you crazy if you let them. For that reason, I always chose to focus on the humour in the drugs trade.

The facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of World-Check. World-Check does not warrant the accuracy of any facts and opinions stated in this article, does not endorse them, and accepts no responsibility for them.