01
Bolivia, mid-coup
A polite taxi from La Paz to Lima
At an early age, Cooper was smuggling cocaine out of Bolivia during a political coup — asking a taxi driver, very politely, to drive 650 miles for $125.
A true story · Memoir
Crime, faith and transformation.
Smuggling With Jesus is the true story of Hank Cooper — a Jewish Canadian with a chemistry background, an island childhood, and an extraordinary hunger for adventure.
“Part memoir, part redemption story, part policy manifesto.”
“Raw, funny, dangerous, and ultimately deeply human.”
What's inside
A life across three continents
Cali, Colombia
Partying with Pablo Escobar's cousin
By his twenties he had bounced from the Caribbean to the back streets of Cali, where nights ended in places most tourists never see.
03
Boston, backstage
Delivering cocaine to David Bowie
A hand-off before a show at the Ritz Carlton — a small fortune, an alien in a suit, and a story Cooper is still telling.
Thailand
35 years in prison for foreigners
Only the brave and foolhardy try to smuggle drugs out of Thailand. Cooper and his best friend Bernie tried anyway — and barely made it home.
This is more than a crime story.
After turning his life around, Cooper became an outspoken advocate for drug-policy reform — using the hard-won wisdom of his own experience to argue for harm reduction and compassion.