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Smuggler: A Memoir
Roger Reaves grew up a poor farm boy in Georgia and went from making 'moonshine' to becoming one of the most prolific smugglers of the 20th century. He covered six continents, transporting 20 ton ship loads of hash, tons of cocaine, and completed more than 100 sorties across the US border with plane loads of marijuana.
His friends and associates spanned the globe. From Medellin Cartel kingpins Jorge Ochoa and Pablo Escobar; to "Mr Nice" Howard Marks and the infamous Barry Seal who was Rogers close friend and employee.
He escaped from prison on five seperate occasions; was shot down in both Mexico and Colombia; and tortured almost to death in a Mexican prison. Despite it all, Roger still has a twinkle in his eye as he recounts his life story.
And you have probably never heard of him...till now.
His friends and associates spanned the globe. From Medellin Cartel kingpins Jorge Ochoa and Pablo Escobar; to "Mr Nice" Howard Marks and the infamous Barry Seal who was Rogers close friend and employee.
He escaped from prison on five seperate occasions; was shot down in both Mexico and Colombia; and tortured almost to death in a Mexican prison. Despite it all, Roger still has a twinkle in his eye as he recounts his life story.
And you have probably never heard of him...till now.
825 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 26, 2016
244 people are currently reading
618 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
April 9, 2017
Smuggler by Roger Reaves
Our families grew up together on dirt poor roads of S. Ga. We went to school and our families visited as people back then did. His sister Nell and brother Larry were closer in age to me. Miss Hortense was a beautiful woman as was the whole family.Roger was the good/bad boy. ..everyone loved anyway. I loved reading his book and it went with me until I finished it at 6am. He lived low and high, went to church& jail.Was poor & rich,visited beautiful places&languished in inhumane prisons. Married a gorgeous loyal mate who stayed with him in the good & the bad. If you knew Roger you will love reading it! I'm Praying for parole,Roger.
Our families grew up together on dirt poor roads of S. Ga. We went to school and our families visited as people back then did. His sister Nell and brother Larry were closer in age to me. Miss Hortense was a beautiful woman as was the whole family.Roger was the good/bad boy. ..everyone loved anyway. I loved reading his book and it went with me until I finished it at 6am. He lived low and high, went to church& jail.Was poor & rich,visited beautiful places&languished in inhumane prisons. Married a gorgeous loyal mate who stayed with him in the good & the bad. If you knew Roger you will love reading it! I'm Praying for parole,Roger.
June 19, 2017
AWESOME!!
Roger Reaves lead the most adventurous life imaginable. Every time he was nabbed and thrown in jail it was always because of some rat bastard or someone trying to screw him out of his money. It's easy to see the allure of drug smuggling with that much money and a pure adrenaline rush with it.
I enjoyed him calling out the establishment for its hypocrisy and draconian laws on drugs.
Roger Reaves lead the most adventurous life imaginable. Every time he was nabbed and thrown in jail it was always because of some rat bastard or someone trying to screw him out of his money. It's easy to see the allure of drug smuggling with that much money and a pure adrenaline rush with it.
I enjoyed him calling out the establishment for its hypocrisy and draconian laws on drugs.
October 9, 2022
I love a good drug smuggler story. To give you an
idea, I loved the book Blow (which, BTW, was
much more believable and than this book). As I
listened to the story, which was narrated by
Roger Reaves himself, I couldn't help but think
that some (or much) of this book is a lot of
fabrication and a result of a good imagination
and embelishment. Towards the end I found
myself rolling my eyes as Roger finished telling
another "whopper". Don't get me wrong, the
book was pretty entertaining, but the chances
that these narrow escapes, many brushes with
death, and chance and random meetings and
encounters with "key people" actually happened
to this one person, I'm just not buying it.
I don't want to accuse Roger Reaves of being a
liar, but I simply don't believe a lot of the stories
he told. I believe much of it is embellishment and
fabrication.
idea, I loved the book Blow (which, BTW, was
much more believable and than this book). As I
listened to the story, which was narrated by
Roger Reaves himself, I couldn't help but think
that some (or much) of this book is a lot of
fabrication and a result of a good imagination
and embelishment. Towards the end I found
myself rolling my eyes as Roger finished telling
another "whopper". Don't get me wrong, the
book was pretty entertaining, but the chances
that these narrow escapes, many brushes with
death, and chance and random meetings and
encounters with "key people" actually happened
to this one person, I'm just not buying it.
I don't want to accuse Roger Reaves of being a
liar, but I simply don't believe a lot of the stories
he told. I believe much of it is embellishment and
fabrication.
October 7, 2025
This book is...is something. Roger, you really could have used an editor. The book is like stream of consciousness writing from the author. It's like having a conversation with someone's sweet old grandfather who is telling you tales of his long life but you're not convinced the stories are all true or if some even happened at all. There's often no context to people involved that he mentions and from paragraph to paragraph one story will abruptly end and another completely unrelated one will begin. There's still some interesting parts hidden in there, but it's a tough read. I'd definitely recommend listening to some of the author's interviews online as they're a lot more digestible than this.
July 21, 2022
Really?
I was originally attracted to this book due to the aviation aspect of his memoir.
I found a lot of the content difficult to believe... as the long winded details seemed somewhat colorful for covering such a long timeframe... I occationally had to roll my eyes. He must have kept quite the daily diary.
Sounds like Reaves was a gifted pilot and almost a gifted yet very greedy career criminal.
The book as written could have been better and could have been worse... certainly a little shorter might have helped.
Pretty sure he ended up in prison exactly where he belongs... it's pretty pathetic how he tries to put blame on the corruption of the rest of the world to justify his own corrupt life.
I was originally attracted to this book due to the aviation aspect of his memoir.
I found a lot of the content difficult to believe... as the long winded details seemed somewhat colorful for covering such a long timeframe... I occationally had to roll my eyes. He must have kept quite the daily diary.
Sounds like Reaves was a gifted pilot and almost a gifted yet very greedy career criminal.
The book as written could have been better and could have been worse... certainly a little shorter might have helped.
Pretty sure he ended up in prison exactly where he belongs... it's pretty pathetic how he tries to put blame on the corruption of the rest of the world to justify his own corrupt life.
January 8, 2023
Interesting look at the drug trade
Roger Reaves gives an honest and personal look into the drug trade. What I can't understand is why he kept going back after spending years in prison and getting cheated at every turn. Was it greed or just an easy way to fund his lifestyle?
Anyone who enjoys history, true crime or biographies should read this book.
Roger Reaves gives an honest and personal look into the drug trade. What I can't understand is why he kept going back after spending years in prison and getting cheated at every turn. Was it greed or just an easy way to fund his lifestyle?
Anyone who enjoys history, true crime or biographies should read this book.
January 19, 2023
Long read....
I got this book after watching a podcast interview and I wanted to know more about Mr. Reeves experiences. Turns out if you have seen or heard the interviews you've read the book almost verbatim he just leaves the mundane details of what foods he ate and wines he drank for the book.
I got this book after watching a podcast interview and I wanted to know more about Mr. Reeves experiences. Turns out if you have seen or heard the interviews you've read the book almost verbatim he just leaves the mundane details of what foods he ate and wines he drank for the book.
June 5, 2024
Great read
An excellent read, albeit with Mr reeves selfishness and greed where his lovely family took second place and suffered more than he probably thinks. He's no hero, but I have to admit hee is probably right about the drugs war. I do hope he was eventually freed and spent good times with his family.
An excellent read, albeit with Mr reeves selfishness and greed where his lovely family took second place and suffered more than he probably thinks. He's no hero, but I have to admit hee is probably right about the drugs war. I do hope he was eventually freed and spent good times with his family.
August 2, 2025
I’m not sure I really believe any of this book. Very long winded and detailed. So detailed that this is what makes me question the authenticity of the book itself. I got it to read about smuggling drugs in airplanes. Turns out that’s only a very small percentage of this book. Should have just stopped the book half way, but I powered through and finished it.
July 4, 2022
A bit of a slow start but ended up being a pretty good read. It's funny how the niceness of Roger Reaves helps you forget about the amount of coke he transported and its effects of society. Though I guess that would be another story, written from other angles. Worth a read. Thanks!
July 10, 2022
Fantastic Book!
Excellent fascinating read. You are one hell of a daring adventure seeking man Roger with balls of steel. I wish as I'm sure you do that you would have quit when you still could and had millions and a happy life with our our corrupt gov on your tail.
Excellent fascinating read. You are one hell of a daring adventure seeking man Roger with balls of steel. I wish as I'm sure you do that you would have quit when you still could and had millions and a happy life with our our corrupt gov on your tail.
June 10, 2023
From one pot smuggler to another, Roger’s story is real!
I’ve read most smuggling books and this one tops them all. Good work Roger! My you and your loyal wife be blessed forever.
Jay Durie. Canada.
I’ve read most smuggling books and this one tops them all. Good work Roger! My you and your loyal wife be blessed forever.
Jay Durie. Canada.
December 20, 2025
interesting look into an Adventurous Life
Hard to imagine one man experiencing all these adventures. Very interesting look into the snuggling life and all that in entails. Will definitely keep you turning pages.
Hard to imagine one man experiencing all these adventures. Very interesting look into the snuggling life and all that in entails. Will definitely keep you turning pages.
July 19, 2017
Very factual
Great read visual descriptions of different places I have been are spot on mentions success of drug program in Portugal need to read chasing the scream
Great read visual descriptions of different places I have been are spot on mentions success of drug program in Portugal need to read chasing the scream
March 24, 2022
Read with a grain of salt.
March 22, 2023
Fantastic book. It was very well written, in my opinion Mr Reaves led a very interesting life. I would love to read a part 2 focusing on life as he gets out of prison.
August 29, 2024
What a jackass.. You don't put your wife through all that shit and then claim you love her. Several times he could have made a different decision and lived a comfortable life.
Want to read
January 8, 2025I just watched his YouTube interview, and I feel like he is capping HARD. lol I just don’t believe someone’s this interesting
December 12, 2025
Definitely some interesting stories in there, but also plenty of filler and felt very repetitive. Could have been a third of the length.
April 7, 2023
Whew, that was tough reading, but I was determined to make it to the end. Reaves is a well-documented, infamous smuggler who earns much credit for just being able to write this book from behind prison bars. While he was a world class criminal with titanium balls, but is not a gifted writer. His plentiful stories jump around and ramble on with incessant details. Several of his stories would have been interesting and enjoyable but were hard to follow. He depicts himself as the good guy and all law enforcement to be corrupt morons. I fought for the other team in the "war on drugs" and I may be a moron sometimes, but I am not corrupt.
January 15, 2026
I did not finish as it was incredibly long winded. If anyone has seen How I Met Your Mother, it reads like the audiobook Lily makes Marshall and Ted listen to on their road trip to Chicago.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews