THE DECISION TO REMAIN A TOURIST AND THE ARREST THAT FOLLOWED
Well, the fact that I changed my plans to not emigrate to Venezuela didn’t mean I was going to return to the homeland right away, nor was it going to make the following days blue.
I realized that since I was in this paradise-like place I had to take full advantage of what Margarita Island had to offer. I decided to spend one full day at the breathtaking beach, which was only five minutes away from the house anyways, and come home not earlier than dusk. It truly was marvelous, just like a postcard with palms and clear blue waters. If I felt hungry I simply made a quick visit to the food shack across and ate seafood.
Sometime in the afternoon, a souvenir seller walked by. I wasn’t interested in his merchandise, so he came up with another offer – marijuana. I figured this would be a lovely end to my lovely day so we began negotiating the price. We came to an agreement, so he said he was going to go get it and would be right back with it. As he promised, he came back, I gave him the money, and he gave me the little pouch, which I immediately dropped in my bag. After about an hour – hour-and-a-half I decided it was time to go home, so I folded my towel, put it in my bag and slowly headed in the direction of the guesthouse. At that moment I saw two guys in uniforms coming towards me; they stopped me and said they needed to see what was in my bag. I am no actor so I simply took out the small pouch and handed it to them. I asked if it was a random check, but instead of an answer they grabbed my shoulders and told me I was arrested. They also thoroughly explained the weed possession consequences in their country, and the lengthy years in jail awaiting me. I started imagining myself becoming an exotic escort to a local thug…Not a very appealing image. I decided to offer a bribe. They accepted!
They accompanied me to the house and told me I had exactly ten minutes to return with the money. As soon as I walked through the guesthouse door I went straight to the manager’s office and told her all about the occurring events without leaving any details out. We both doubted the guys in uniforms were truly police officers, but she was absolutely convinced that it would be even worse if they weren’t.
She told me I’ve got two options. One was to instantly gather my belongings and be taken to the airport through the backdoor in the company jeep, so I could leave the island. The other was to pay the bribe ($300) and spend the rest of my days on the island without worries, and without buying any more weed of course. I chose the second option. I paid and quickly everything went back to normal. That’s when I promised myself not to buy weed from strangers ever again, especially in a foreign country, and that was a rule I wasn’t going to ever bend or change.