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El Infierno: Drugs, Gangs, Riots and Murder: My time inside Ecuador’s toughest prisons
“Gato’s head snapped back… We could make out the shots of several 9mms, a couple of 38s and one or two 45s. I hurled myself through the doorway and into the room. I didn’t look back.”
Caught in an Ecuador hotel room with 8kg of cocaine, Pieter Tritton was no mule or dupe. He had planned and organised everything. The a 12-year sentence inside one of the world’s deadliest prison systems, where gun fights, executions and riots are a part of everyday life. As a Brit banged up abroad, Pieter had to learn how to survive – and fast – because one wrong move would mean death.
This is the insider account of what it’s like to live in a place worse than hell and come out a changed man on the other side.
Caught in an Ecuador hotel room with 8kg of cocaine, Pieter Tritton was no mule or dupe. He had planned and organised everything. The a 12-year sentence inside one of the world’s deadliest prison systems, where gun fights, executions and riots are a part of everyday life. As a Brit banged up abroad, Pieter had to learn how to survive – and fast – because one wrong move would mean death.
This is the insider account of what it’s like to live in a place worse than hell and come out a changed man on the other side.
260 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 27, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
August 22, 2017
SPOILER ALERT
El Infierno is the true story of Pieter Tritton, a British man sentenced to twelve years in Ecuador’s toughest prison for drug dealing and the horrors he sees there.
Tritton, along with his partner Nicky, walks into his hotel room, whereupon police storm in and arrest him in possession of a cocaine-impregnated tent, designed to fool customs and sniffer dogs.
They are both arrested and sent to Penal Garcia Moreno prison, which is where Tritton’s ordeal begins. Ecuadorian prisons aren’t anything like British or European prisons. Tritton had to buy a cell to live in, or he would have had to sleep on the concrete floor. The prison guards required payment for “food and accommodation” and the local mafia, whichever flavour happens to be on your wing, needed to have their palms greased as well, or he would’ve been tortured or killed.
Lawyers cost a great deal of money, which was no surprise, but in Ecuador, there doesn’t appear to be an official bar, so anyone can call themselves a lawyer. It’s therefore easy for a prisoner to be stung by unscrupulous “lawyers.” Judges were paid to expedite Tritton’s case or he would’ve been in prison for years waiting his case to come to court.
Tritton also paid for his partner Nicky’s legal defence and bills as well and I was left with the impression that without money, the average drug mule or common thief would be in real trouble and unlikely to survive in an Ecuadorian prison. Just as well he was wealthy!
In order to pass the time, Tritton decided to deal drugs after clearing it with the various bosses in the wing. Cocaine was his thing and he was able to peddle it as a superior option to the cheaper polvo, a low grade but cheap, local narcotic.
Nicky, who appeared to be blameless, was eventually released after serving six months in the prison, whilst Tritton continued his stretch.
After several years, he was transferred to La Peni, because the authorities got a whiff of an attempted escape plan by him and a few fellow inmates.
La Peni makes Penal Garcia Moreno look like a holiday camp and guns and machetes are openly carried by the inmates, the guards are complicit with them and it is a ruthless experiment in Darwinism. People who cannot pay their “dues” are beaten, tortured or killed, without exception.
To “protect his capital,” Tritton takes up drug-dealing in La Peni as well and rises to a position of power. Eventually he is moved to a supermax facility that had been built next to the old prison.
The supermax facility is Tritton’s final stop before going on to finish his sentence in the UK. Needless to say, after the harshness of Ecuador’s “finest” penal institutes, HMP Wandsworth is a walk in the park.
I am conflicted by this book and it has proved to be the most difficult I’ve yet had to review. On the one hand, it is written well and tells the reader a lot about the Ecuadorian prison system. The story is quite gripping and is pacey.
On the other hand, it’s hard to feel much sympathy for the author. He is arrested for drug-smuggling and goes to prison, where the first thing he does is set himself up as a drug-dealer. When he’s transferred to La Peni, he does the same thing. Lessons learned? It would appear not.
There are also a lot of instances where he has (in fairness, with good reason) railed against the corrupt Ecuadorian justice system, yet he is the only one responsible for his imprisonment. This wasn’t a case of mistaken identity or scapegoating a foreigner in a bar-room brawl, Pieter Tritton was bang to rights when the police arrested him.
There is an underlying theme of narcissism and self-righteousness in “El Infierno” that riles, like tin foil on a tooth filling.
From the book:
“I would have faced a minimum 20-year prison sentence, which would have meant serving at least ten years. There was no bloody way I was serving ten years anywhere! I planned to be out after no more than three years at the very most.”
The indignation irritated me and he was lucky he wasn’t arrested in Thailand where they take a more robust stance against drug-dealers.
The blurb accompanying the book says: “This is the insider account of what it’s like to live in a place worse than hell and come out a changed man on the other side.”
There’s nothing in the book to suggest that his experiences have changed him and from his writing, he seems unrepentant about his criminal ways.
It is a good book, with a flowing narrative that makes it very easy to read, but in any book, either fiction or non-fiction, you have to sympathise with the main character(s) or all is lost and unfortunately, I felt no empathy with the protagonist, who made decisions that landed him in a foreign jail with all the failings of a corrupt system. Without much in the way of post-prison redemption for Pieter Tritton, it’s hard to feel that he’s learned much at all, let alone become a changed man.
Therefore, with much deliberation, I feel that I can award no more than two stars.
El Infierno is the true story of Pieter Tritton, a British man sentenced to twelve years in Ecuador’s toughest prison for drug dealing and the horrors he sees there.
Tritton, along with his partner Nicky, walks into his hotel room, whereupon police storm in and arrest him in possession of a cocaine-impregnated tent, designed to fool customs and sniffer dogs.
They are both arrested and sent to Penal Garcia Moreno prison, which is where Tritton’s ordeal begins. Ecuadorian prisons aren’t anything like British or European prisons. Tritton had to buy a cell to live in, or he would have had to sleep on the concrete floor. The prison guards required payment for “food and accommodation” and the local mafia, whichever flavour happens to be on your wing, needed to have their palms greased as well, or he would’ve been tortured or killed.
Lawyers cost a great deal of money, which was no surprise, but in Ecuador, there doesn’t appear to be an official bar, so anyone can call themselves a lawyer. It’s therefore easy for a prisoner to be stung by unscrupulous “lawyers.” Judges were paid to expedite Tritton’s case or he would’ve been in prison for years waiting his case to come to court.
Tritton also paid for his partner Nicky’s legal defence and bills as well and I was left with the impression that without money, the average drug mule or common thief would be in real trouble and unlikely to survive in an Ecuadorian prison. Just as well he was wealthy!
In order to pass the time, Tritton decided to deal drugs after clearing it with the various bosses in the wing. Cocaine was his thing and he was able to peddle it as a superior option to the cheaper polvo, a low grade but cheap, local narcotic.
Nicky, who appeared to be blameless, was eventually released after serving six months in the prison, whilst Tritton continued his stretch.
After several years, he was transferred to La Peni, because the authorities got a whiff of an attempted escape plan by him and a few fellow inmates.
La Peni makes Penal Garcia Moreno look like a holiday camp and guns and machetes are openly carried by the inmates, the guards are complicit with them and it is a ruthless experiment in Darwinism. People who cannot pay their “dues” are beaten, tortured or killed, without exception.
To “protect his capital,” Tritton takes up drug-dealing in La Peni as well and rises to a position of power. Eventually he is moved to a supermax facility that had been built next to the old prison.
The supermax facility is Tritton’s final stop before going on to finish his sentence in the UK. Needless to say, after the harshness of Ecuador’s “finest” penal institutes, HMP Wandsworth is a walk in the park.
I am conflicted by this book and it has proved to be the most difficult I’ve yet had to review. On the one hand, it is written well and tells the reader a lot about the Ecuadorian prison system. The story is quite gripping and is pacey.
On the other hand, it’s hard to feel much sympathy for the author. He is arrested for drug-smuggling and goes to prison, where the first thing he does is set himself up as a drug-dealer. When he’s transferred to La Peni, he does the same thing. Lessons learned? It would appear not.
There are also a lot of instances where he has (in fairness, with good reason) railed against the corrupt Ecuadorian justice system, yet he is the only one responsible for his imprisonment. This wasn’t a case of mistaken identity or scapegoating a foreigner in a bar-room brawl, Pieter Tritton was bang to rights when the police arrested him.
There is an underlying theme of narcissism and self-righteousness in “El Infierno” that riles, like tin foil on a tooth filling.
From the book:
“I would have faced a minimum 20-year prison sentence, which would have meant serving at least ten years. There was no bloody way I was serving ten years anywhere! I planned to be out after no more than three years at the very most.”
The indignation irritated me and he was lucky he wasn’t arrested in Thailand where they take a more robust stance against drug-dealers.
The blurb accompanying the book says: “This is the insider account of what it’s like to live in a place worse than hell and come out a changed man on the other side.”
There’s nothing in the book to suggest that his experiences have changed him and from his writing, he seems unrepentant about his criminal ways.
It is a good book, with a flowing narrative that makes it very easy to read, but in any book, either fiction or non-fiction, you have to sympathise with the main character(s) or all is lost and unfortunately, I felt no empathy with the protagonist, who made decisions that landed him in a foreign jail with all the failings of a corrupt system. Without much in the way of post-prison redemption for Pieter Tritton, it’s hard to feel that he’s learned much at all, let alone become a changed man.
Therefore, with much deliberation, I feel that I can award no more than two stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2017
This book is a must .....
It's pure comedy!
Continuously contradicting himself throughout the book, the author clumsily witters on about how he is always trying "to keep a low profile and not draw attention to himself " and then, after a bit more drivel he brags about opportunities he keeps seeing and then exploiting to traffic and deal drugs, which is what he got banged up for in the first place.
Changed man ??? Even right up to his release he's still boasting about being the "boss of the wing" and overseeing all the dealing.
Reading this book is like eavesdropping on a coke bore at a party where they regale over exaggerated tales of hi jinx to anyone that can be arsed to listen.
The torture and beatings always happen to some other poor unfortunate ......whereas all he gets away with is a nasty cough and a bad toe. Oh...and the "shrapnel" story ......really?
The chapters on escape are some of the funniest, as he never does.........you might as well be reading a Boy Scouts pie in the sky wish list on how to escape from a tough public school dormitory.
The best bit for me though was when he refurbed his cell and had "the builders" in.... as when one is an "international drugs trafficker" there's no way one would carry out such menial tasks oneself.
Beautifully plastered walls
Beige ceramic tiles
Black porcelain
Commissioned cupboards and tables
Chairs upholstered in red damask silk.".....the list is so extensive I wondered if #LawrenceLlewelynBowen had been drafted in.
Unlike Midnight Express this book does not ring true.
The "Author" can't even put his own mugshot on the cover of his own book. Mind you after coming up with a pile of tosh like that would you??
Can't wait for the movie.....my money is on Brad Pittbull or Benedict Cucumberpatch for the lead!
Enjoy
It's pure comedy!
Continuously contradicting himself throughout the book, the author clumsily witters on about how he is always trying "to keep a low profile and not draw attention to himself " and then, after a bit more drivel he brags about opportunities he keeps seeing and then exploiting to traffic and deal drugs, which is what he got banged up for in the first place.
Changed man ??? Even right up to his release he's still boasting about being the "boss of the wing" and overseeing all the dealing.
Reading this book is like eavesdropping on a coke bore at a party where they regale over exaggerated tales of hi jinx to anyone that can be arsed to listen.
The torture and beatings always happen to some other poor unfortunate ......whereas all he gets away with is a nasty cough and a bad toe. Oh...and the "shrapnel" story ......really?
The chapters on escape are some of the funniest, as he never does.........you might as well be reading a Boy Scouts pie in the sky wish list on how to escape from a tough public school dormitory.
The best bit for me though was when he refurbed his cell and had "the builders" in.... as when one is an "international drugs trafficker" there's no way one would carry out such menial tasks oneself.
Beautifully plastered walls
Beige ceramic tiles
Black porcelain
Commissioned cupboards and tables
Chairs upholstered in red damask silk.".....the list is so extensive I wondered if #LawrenceLlewelynBowen had been drafted in.
Unlike Midnight Express this book does not ring true.
The "Author" can't even put his own mugshot on the cover of his own book. Mind you after coming up with a pile of tosh like that would you??
Can't wait for the movie.....my money is on Brad Pittbull or Benedict Cucumberpatch for the lead!
Enjoy
February 4, 2020
I tried to read this objectively.
My profession makes me often leary of stories written by prisoners and I was often on high alert during this memoir.
Tritton continuously makes himself out to be such a loyal and great guy that it is sickening. He tries to make us believe he always puts everyone else ahead of himself. For example, feeling so horrible about putting his ex-girlfriend's daughter in a compromised permission and getting then getting her mom locked up. But it is okay, he threw lots of money at it and it was his priority to get her out and he will take the responsibility and he is sorry. What a guy. Or the story about coming to the rescue of an Ecuadorian man arrested with his mother and he overhears the guy needs to pay $90 to get his mother out of jail, so because that was a lot of money to them, but not to him, he tapped the guy on the shoulder and gave him the $90 . What I didn't understand was before and after the story he said he didn't speak Spanish at the point. So was the Ecuadorian guard and Ecuadorian family speaking Engish so Tritton could understand? Hmm.
The story just seems to continue with this hypocrisy and contradiction throughout.
I was not there. I do not doubt he went through a lot and it was a terrible experience, I just thought he may have sensationalized a lot of the incidents for dramatic purposes, which is totally fine, but don't do it in such a blatant contradictory manner. For example, when he finds out he is going home and he is looking to escape and had thought ahead and got crushed sleeping pills to put in the guards coffee and he had a fresh shipload of cocaine in the morning and was pissed he couldn't run down to his cell and get it. This is either included for the sensationalism and drama of his book, or he was in no way reformed as he claimed to be.
Oh and the way he uses people is brutal. Pardon my skepticism, but he says what a lovely person the church lady helping him in Guayaquil is, but she was giving him stuff and doing everything he asked and in the meantime, he was running and doing drugs, making and distributing alcohol and continuing to support the gangs. This lady thought she was making a difference and he was clearly manipulating and using her.
Anyway, all that aside. I did enjoy hearing about the conditions of the prison. I found it very interesting about how the corruption, the gangs, the hierarchy of the prison life, the lack of medical care, and the whole judicial process (or lack there of).
Anyway, it is worth the read for story and the view of the Ecuadorian penal system at the time.
I understand an author has to keep the stories interesting and a con has to do what he has to do to survive in that environment, I just wish he would have admitted he was an asshole and then told his story.
My profession makes me often leary of stories written by prisoners and I was often on high alert during this memoir.
Tritton continuously makes himself out to be such a loyal and great guy that it is sickening. He tries to make us believe he always puts everyone else ahead of himself. For example, feeling so horrible about putting his ex-girlfriend's daughter in a compromised permission and getting then getting her mom locked up. But it is okay, he threw lots of money at it and it was his priority to get her out and he will take the responsibility and he is sorry. What a guy. Or the story about coming to the rescue of an Ecuadorian man arrested with his mother and he overhears the guy needs to pay $90 to get his mother out of jail, so because that was a lot of money to them, but not to him, he tapped the guy on the shoulder and gave him the $90 . What I didn't understand was before and after the story he said he didn't speak Spanish at the point. So was the Ecuadorian guard and Ecuadorian family speaking Engish so Tritton could understand? Hmm.
The story just seems to continue with this hypocrisy and contradiction throughout.
I was not there. I do not doubt he went through a lot and it was a terrible experience, I just thought he may have sensationalized a lot of the incidents for dramatic purposes, which is totally fine, but don't do it in such a blatant contradictory manner. For example, when he finds out he is going home and he is looking to escape and had thought ahead and got crushed sleeping pills to put in the guards coffee and he had a fresh shipload of cocaine in the morning and was pissed he couldn't run down to his cell and get it. This is either included for the sensationalism and drama of his book, or he was in no way reformed as he claimed to be.
Oh and the way he uses people is brutal. Pardon my skepticism, but he says what a lovely person the church lady helping him in Guayaquil is, but she was giving him stuff and doing everything he asked and in the meantime, he was running and doing drugs, making and distributing alcohol and continuing to support the gangs. This lady thought she was making a difference and he was clearly manipulating and using her.
Anyway, all that aside. I did enjoy hearing about the conditions of the prison. I found it very interesting about how the corruption, the gangs, the hierarchy of the prison life, the lack of medical care, and the whole judicial process (or lack there of).
Anyway, it is worth the read for story and the view of the Ecuadorian penal system at the time.
I understand an author has to keep the stories interesting and a con has to do what he has to do to survive in that environment, I just wish he would have admitted he was an asshole and then told his story.
April 9, 2022
Para un libro que se llama El infierno, y trata sobre una carcel sudamericana, esperaba como minimo algo como Expreso de medianoche.
Si bien no dudo que la haya pasado mal se ve que como ciudadano de pais del primer mundo que tenia acceso a cierta plata (sea suya o de familiares, ya me olvidé), pareciera que TAN mal no la pasó como sí parece que la pasaban otros que no tenian esos privilegios en la misma cárcel. Pareciera que ni siquiera le costaba conseguir el dinero para pagar los "lujos"que se podia dar.
El relato por momentos se me hacia un tanto reiterativo, al punto que no veia la hora que lo liberaran para poder terminar el libro.
Creo que hay historias reales sobre carceles mas duras que lo que cuenta aca.
Si bien no dudo que la haya pasado mal se ve que como ciudadano de pais del primer mundo que tenia acceso a cierta plata (sea suya o de familiares, ya me olvidé), pareciera que TAN mal no la pasó como sí parece que la pasaban otros que no tenian esos privilegios en la misma cárcel. Pareciera que ni siquiera le costaba conseguir el dinero para pagar los "lujos"que se podia dar.
El relato por momentos se me hacia un tanto reiterativo, al punto que no veia la hora que lo liberaran para poder terminar el libro.
Creo que hay historias reales sobre carceles mas duras que lo que cuenta aca.
March 20, 2023
No one:
This guy: 😟😳 they caught me for trafficking drugs?! No way... oh well, I'll just keep going in prison 🤪🫡😊
Like I get that prison would be boring and you need cash💰 bur it's the lack of remorse/ changing his ways for me
Also I get being in prison, particularly the Garcia Moreno y La Peni would suck, but the way this dude had literally ANYTHING he wanted... take his ass back to England honestly
He was acting pretty shitty towards Ecuador/Latin America, always calling it a third world country, how shit it is, (works well for your drug business, just not when you get caught huh pal) but mostly the book was a gripping and interesting insight into his years in the South American prison system
This guy: 😟😳 they caught me for trafficking drugs?! No way... oh well, I'll just keep going in prison 🤪🫡😊
Like I get that prison would be boring and you need cash💰 bur it's the lack of remorse/ changing his ways for me
Also I get being in prison, particularly the Garcia Moreno y La Peni would suck, but the way this dude had literally ANYTHING he wanted... take his ass back to England honestly
He was acting pretty shitty towards Ecuador/Latin America, always calling it a third world country, how shit it is, (works well for your drug business, just not when you get caught huh pal) but mostly the book was a gripping and interesting insight into his years in the South American prison system
January 18, 2022
The writing is clumsy, but I feel it is an honest biased perspective if that makes sense. In that we get to know how he was interpreting things from his point of view. I enjoyed it.
March 1, 2023
Really interesting accounts of life in an Ecuadorian prison written by an unreliable and narcissistic narrator
December 12, 2025
I liked it! Not life changing but I definitely wanted to keep reading it. Crazy crazy stories.
June 10, 2026
Reasonably interesting content but probably the worst written book I've ever read; truly dreadful.
February 13, 2018
What a horrifying read.
Lets be clear from the outset that he was trying to smuggle an awful lot of drugs which would cause many people misery. However what he went through was enough punishment for several people.
I have seen other reviews where readers have described him as cocky and arrogant but Pieter gets that knocked out of him in terrifying circumstances. If anything the book is a clear advert on NOT smuggling drugs.
Very well written and thought provoking.
Lets be clear from the outset that he was trying to smuggle an awful lot of drugs which would cause many people misery. However what he went through was enough punishment for several people.
I have seen other reviews where readers have described him as cocky and arrogant but Pieter gets that knocked out of him in terrifying circumstances. If anything the book is a clear advert on NOT smuggling drugs.
Very well written and thought provoking.
Read
February 17, 2022Caught in an Ecuador hotel room with 8kg of cocaine, Pieter Tritton was no mule or dupe. He had planned and organised everything. The consequence: a 12-year sentence inside one of the world’s deadliest prison systems
finest Peruvian flake cocaine impregnated in the groundsheet of a small tent.
When Nico and the others had been arrested we had an agreement between the three partners – Nico, me and one other – that if anyone got locked up it was the responsibility of whoever was free to look after the families of the others in prison. I kept my word and paid all their bills for the six months
We would normally lose 10–15 per cent in volume in the process. This method was extremely good and is still in use, only today cocaine can be put in virtually anything and then extracted polystyrene, plastics, paper, wood, perfume, wine, vodka, cosmetics and even glass. There are so many ways now. If you picked up the item you would have absolutely no idea that you were holding two or three kilos of pure cocaine, worth nearly £100,000 at today’s wholesale prices in London. That’s one hell of an expensive tent.
The reason for not working in France was the fact that my family had a house there. Don’t shit where you eat.
I hate lying and felt terrible about it. I could see the worry in my father’s eyes. He really didn’t want me to go out there this time. I was beginning to feel that I didn’t really want to go myself. I would much rather relax at the house with my family, drink some wine and eat good food instead. But too many people were involved by this point and wheels had been set in motion.
The days and nights in Ecuador are of equal length. The sun appears at about 6am and disappears again at around 6pm, seven days a week, 52 weeks of the year.
The Arabs explained that I could have a mattress brought in if I paid the police a little money. I thought they were joking, but no. This was Ecuador after all.
Nicky collapsed after the fourth or fifth day, having drunk the tap water and contracted a virus. The local ambulance service had had to come in and put her on a drip for a few hours
transferred on to the remand centre, the CDP (Centre for Detention and Prevention)
who had been arrested with 300 kilograms of pure Peruvian cocaine
we were finally moved into the main prison and C wing
once every two weeks your girlfriend, wife or a prostitute could stay the night in your cell on the Saturday. This was music to my ears. Sex in prison!
THE CELLS AT Garcia Moreno prison were small, about six feet by eight with two bunks
finest Peruvian flake cocaine impregnated in the groundsheet of a small tent.
When Nico and the others had been arrested we had an agreement between the three partners – Nico, me and one other – that if anyone got locked up it was the responsibility of whoever was free to look after the families of the others in prison. I kept my word and paid all their bills for the six months
We would normally lose 10–15 per cent in volume in the process. This method was extremely good and is still in use, only today cocaine can be put in virtually anything and then extracted polystyrene, plastics, paper, wood, perfume, wine, vodka, cosmetics and even glass. There are so many ways now. If you picked up the item you would have absolutely no idea that you were holding two or three kilos of pure cocaine, worth nearly £100,000 at today’s wholesale prices in London. That’s one hell of an expensive tent.
The reason for not working in France was the fact that my family had a house there. Don’t shit where you eat.
I hate lying and felt terrible about it. I could see the worry in my father’s eyes. He really didn’t want me to go out there this time. I was beginning to feel that I didn’t really want to go myself. I would much rather relax at the house with my family, drink some wine and eat good food instead. But too many people were involved by this point and wheels had been set in motion.
The days and nights in Ecuador are of equal length. The sun appears at about 6am and disappears again at around 6pm, seven days a week, 52 weeks of the year.
The Arabs explained that I could have a mattress brought in if I paid the police a little money. I thought they were joking, but no. This was Ecuador after all.
Nicky collapsed after the fourth or fifth day, having drunk the tap water and contracted a virus. The local ambulance service had had to come in and put her on a drip for a few hours
transferred on to the remand centre, the CDP (Centre for Detention and Prevention)
who had been arrested with 300 kilograms of pure Peruvian cocaine
we were finally moved into the main prison and C wing
once every two weeks your girlfriend, wife or a prostitute could stay the night in your cell on the Saturday. This was music to my ears. Sex in prison!
THE CELLS AT Garcia Moreno prison were small, about six feet by eight with two bunks
January 16, 2026
An entertaining read, although somewhat repetitive at points in the middle. Certainly a damning inside view of the absolute mess of corruption and violence that makes up (or certainly made up) the Ecuadorian penal system. I had just come back from Ecuador myself and saw a video of Pieter on TikTok (weirdly nothing like the guy on the front cover, God knows who that is), he’s an unassuming guy to be an international drug dealer so that piqued my interest. I definitely enjoyed the read, and Pieter unarguably had a horrific experience that you wouldn’t wish on anyone, but I have to say his lack of seemingly any remorse for his crime or his role in the damage done by drugs in this country as somewhat grating. He certainly doesn’t seem to be remotely rehabilitated, unless you count not wanting to go back to a hellhole jail and therefore living a crime free life rehabilitation. That said Ecuadorian jails clearly don’t offer that as a path for their prisoners, if you’re having to survive by continuing to deal drugs for the entirety of your sentence, maybe just not wanting to go back there is the best one can expect. I just got the vibe that Pieter has perhaps bought into his own lore, which was slightly grating, but perhaps the book just didn’t go that deep.
February 1, 2025
i had always been interested to read about the penal systems around the world— mostly on the topics of toughest prisons. and this book had feed my curiosity learning about the prison system in Ecuador. i had to look up the real images of the Ecuador prison especially Guayaquil in youtube and was very shocked with the resemblance of the events that happened in the book— the riots, the gang wars, the drugs problems, the escape attempts, etc. unfortunately, this is a very bad read that left a bitter taste in my mouth once i finished read it.
firstly first, the author deserved his sentences— he’s definitely not innocence, with a previous record even (trafficking a huge amount of drugs). and then there he’s very angry with the britain police for trying to trapped him up and locked up him for good. but okay, we’re all angry to something or the consequences even we know better it’s what we deserved. but he wasn’t a reformed man at all, while he’s doing his time in prison, he lived comfortably with every access he can get with his money (family & friends support)— even able to sell drugs in the prison, making alcohol to be sold to the other prisoners. if everything else in the prison corrupted, so does him. after everything had been stripped away, the transfer from prison to prison, the only complaints he had was because there’s no freedom and access like he used to get before in the previous prison/cell.
it sounds so ridiculous that i feel so mad at one point. good that he’s been released, but i do really hope he learned his lessons through his arduous journey in Ecuador prison.
moral of the story; please stay away from any crimes related especially drugs, you’ll be thankful for yourself.
firstly first, the author deserved his sentences— he’s definitely not innocence, with a previous record even (trafficking a huge amount of drugs). and then there he’s very angry with the britain police for trying to trapped him up and locked up him for good. but okay, we’re all angry to something or the consequences even we know better it’s what we deserved. but he wasn’t a reformed man at all, while he’s doing his time in prison, he lived comfortably with every access he can get with his money (family & friends support)— even able to sell drugs in the prison, making alcohol to be sold to the other prisoners. if everything else in the prison corrupted, so does him. after everything had been stripped away, the transfer from prison to prison, the only complaints he had was because there’s no freedom and access like he used to get before in the previous prison/cell.
it sounds so ridiculous that i feel so mad at one point. good that he’s been released, but i do really hope he learned his lessons through his arduous journey in Ecuador prison.
moral of the story; please stay away from any crimes related especially drugs, you’ll be thankful for yourself.
May 19, 2025
I came across Pieter Tritton by chance on a YouTube video where he was rating the realism of various movies with drug production/smuggling scenes. The calm and informative way that he spoke piqued my interest, and I went down a rabbit hole... watching interviews where he spoke about his life as a drug smuggler. This book details his time and experiences in some of Ecuador's toughest jails, as well as briefly looking at how he ended up there. Despite the serious subject matter and often shocking descriptions of violence, Pieter's narrative is both natural, and compelling.
April 27, 2018
The is an interesting read. I did feel a bit bored as it dragged on a bit. Pieter knew what he was doing, he was trying to smuggle drugs and got caught. What do you expect when you are in those countries the prison system will be like. Yes shocking but you take the risk and you suffer the consequences. I don't feel sorry for him, he still was selling drugs in prison, always had money and was in with the gangs. He did his time so hope he learnt his lesson.
January 16, 2025
Interesting look at life in a prison a long way from home.
Half the time he seems to present himself as living it up inside the prison system, not learning from his mistakes and still trying to sell drugs. The other half he makes it sound like the worst time ever, getting sick, being ignored and forgotten by the bureaucratic side of things and having to pay squillions in bribes.
Reading hours 7.84
Half the time he seems to present himself as living it up inside the prison system, not learning from his mistakes and still trying to sell drugs. The other half he makes it sound like the worst time ever, getting sick, being ignored and forgotten by the bureaucratic side of things and having to pay squillions in bribes.
Reading hours 7.84
March 27, 2021
Well, the book definitely is the Real Life story of Sava Kranj grandson.
Peter is the Doctor you do not to be in contact with, but his degree in Chemistry is hard to beat.
Everything around us is Cocaine just Cocamidopropyl's are from coconuts.
Peter is the Doctor you do not to be in contact with, but his degree in Chemistry is hard to beat.
Everything around us is Cocaine just Cocamidopropyl's are from coconuts.
January 29, 2022
I picked up this book in the airport before a long-haul flight, if I did not have nothing else to do on the flight I would have put this book down and not finished it. There are some interesting points but I was disappointed with the writing and continuity.
August 2, 2026
Networking king. RIP posh Pete du hadde elska LinkedIn. Men null kødd, helt utrolig mange close calls med døden. Og jeg må møte denne fyren, hvor morsom og sjarmerende må du være for å bli så populær i et fengsel (eller 3)?
April 20, 2022
Not the best writer, but a story I wouldn't have heard elsewhere. Interesting read.
April 21, 2022
Very good read
I have been reading lots of these types of books and this is one of the best. I really felt the remorse in his words
I have been reading lots of these types of books and this is one of the best. I really felt the remorse in his words
October 3, 2022
just a great story
Writing style was simple but a great story
Would love to meet the author in person.
Recommended If you are into a grimy story
Writing style was simple but a great story
Would love to meet the author in person.
Recommended If you are into a grimy story
August 13, 2024
Interesting book not written that well
September 25, 2024
It is a book with a really interesting story & very honest.
I did appreciate the read but it wasn’t *amazing*
I did appreciate the read but it wasn’t *amazing*
April 3, 2025
Still to this date, the best book I have ever read!
May 2, 2025
Good read became repetitive, but he has a very interesting story especially since it’s true. Had an episode of Locked Up Abroad about him.
December 2, 2025
Interesting read
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