Hunting Mr Nice: The Cannabis Kingpin - Inside the life of Howard Marks: the Oxford graduate, drug smuggler and writer

Howard Marks, also known as Mr Nice, was one of the most prolific cannabis smugglers in the world. At the height of his illegal operations, he was trafficking tens of millions of dollars’ worth across the globe.

The story of the late Welshman is now being retold in a new BBC documentary, Hunting Mr Nice: The Cannabis Kingpin. The series brings together Marks' criminal inner circle and the law enforcers who spent years tracking him down in the 1980s.

Marks was brought up in Bridgend county, before he spent his formative years at Oxford University. For the next 20 years after that, he cultivated a drug empire worth millions. A man of many aliases, he was an amoral criminal to some, but a benevolent campaigner for drugs reform to others.

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Here we look at Howard Marks, the kind of person he was, his childhood, his life as a drug smuggler and life after prison. For the latest TV & Showbiz news, sign up to our newsletter.

His younger years

Dennis Howard Marks was born on August 13, 1945 and grew up in Kenfig Hill in Bridgend county during the 1950s. Marty Langford, his childhood friend, had been born in the same village as Marks and had known him all his life.

"The only thing he would admit to was that he liked lying," Marty said during the programme. "To admit that he liked lying with a laugh, that characteristic grin with a chuckle, that was part of his legendary charm."

He added: "We were friends in junior school. We played together on the streets. But he wasn’t really part of the street gang, he had orthopaedic problems and wore brown leather shoes, whereas we all wore running shoes, tennis shoes.

"And we would run a lot around the streets, whereas he wouldn’t, he was slow and we were picking younger boys to play games. He would be the last to be picked. And I think that must’ve been very humiliating for him".

Marks wasn't a confident youngster, however that soon changed in his adolescence years, where he started "dressing up as a Teddy boy" and "chasing the girls". In his own words, Marks admitted to befriending the "roughs and toughs" of the community and felt like he had a "bit of protection" and made friends with people he “set out to make friends" with.

His childhood friend Marty added that Marks used his intelligence when he was faced with physical threats, which remained with him throughout his life. Marks then went on to study at Oxford University where he earned a degree in Nuclear Physics. He intended on becoming a teacher, however Marks abandoned a life in the classroom and decided to become a notorious drug smuggler instead.

Being caught

In 1981, Marks was arrested for 10 tonnes of cannabis into the UK. During the programme, Nick Baker of UK Customs said that the evidence they had against Howard was "overwhelming". At the Old Bailey in London, Howard was facing 18 years behind bars if found guilty, however, in a shocking turn of events he managed to avoid jail time by telling a good story.

The Oxford graduate claimed to the judge and the jury that he had links to MI6 and that he had been working undercover for them as a drug smuggler in order to infiltrate terrorist organisations. More specifically, he claimed he had been working with the Mexican secret service to infiltrate a terrorist group in Mexico.

Nick Baker recalled: "I couldn’t believe that any jury, given the evidence they had in front of them, could have swallowed Marks’ preposterous expedition of the evidence. I was flabbergasted. Then, I saw that a female jury member had drawn a love heart and she had put her initials on top of the heart and Howard’s initials. So there wasn’t much justice in that determination".

In a previous interview, Marks was asked if he had been "spinning an incredible yarn" during the 1981 court case. He replied: "Yes, in some senses I had spun an incredible yarn." When asked if it was a lie, he replied: "Of course it was a lie. Everyone knew it was b******t, including the jury". "But they let you off," the interviewer interjected. "Yes," Howard said. "Because the law is stupid".

Mr Marks made front page news as he walked away from court as an acquitted man. He then went on to write a book about the experience - High Time: the Life and Times of Howard Marks, where he admitted to beating the criminal justice system.

"We all felt pretty sick about it," Nick Barker said. But in the book, Howard also used the real names of the people he was working with, which would later become very helpful for those who were trying to capture him.

Life as a drug smuggler

In America, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, Craig Lovato, was on the hunt to capture Marks. While Marks lived in Palma in Mallorca, the police in Spain had spent years recording his phone calls, which Lovato listened to.

During his time as a drug smuggler, Marks had up to 43 aliases, which led to him being widely recognised as "Mr Nice" after he bought a passport from convicted murderer, Donald Nice. Marks would travel all over the world with his drug empire, including Bangkok in Thailand and Karachi in Pakistan.

Eventually the DEA in America charged Howard Marks. He was caught in Spain in 1988 and extradited to the US, and was later convicted before given a 25-year prison sentence.

While in prison, Marks was regarded as a "model prisoner", due to the fact that he spent much of his time helping other fellow prisoners to pass their GED exam, which is similar to securing a high school diploma. Marks spent seven years in prison before he was released early for good behaviour in 1995.

Life after prison

Following his time in prison, Marks went on to publish his autobiography, Mr Nice, in 1996. The book became a bestseller and was turned into a film, with the same name and starred Welsh actor Rhys Ifans. Marks also spent many years campaigning to reform drugs laws, even standing for election to Parliament in 1997 on a single-issue ticket of reforming drug laws.

Marks became something of a cultural icon as well, often hosting a one-man show where he spoke about his past, collaborating with the likes of Super Furry Animals in music and appearing on music quiz show Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

In early 2015, he revealed he had been diagnosed with inoperable bowel cancer. In an interview that October, he said he had no regrets and was happy, and added that he was "living with cancer not dying from cancer". Marks passed away in April 2016 at the age of 70.

Hunting Mr Nice: The Cannabis Kingpin series will start on BBC Two on Thursday, November 21 at 9pm.