Strippers, Cocaine, Alcohol cause Favela Drug dealers to storm hostel and blackmail fellow backpacker.

So basically the title says it all….. Alright so here we go today’s exciting story, and someone’s worst day of their life, and no it wasn’t mine.

It all started the night before. There were these Australia guys and this English guy that were out to have a great time.

They had arrived at the hostel pumped and ready to go. That started the drinking pretty early and they were nice and liquored up when they left out the door at 11pm.

I was hanging around the hostel updating the blog when they left and headed to bed early myself.

I was rudely woken up at 5am in the morning by frantic yelling and freaking out by one of the Australian guys who had just arrived back at the hostel from the crazy night. His buddies had arrived an hour or two before.

As there was no real roof at the place you could hear everything and anything. Apparently his buddies lost him in a favela where they were all out looking to buy some drugs.

Turns out he found some dealers who invited him in and were nice enough to offer him some cocaine.

He said it would have been rude not to shoot up with the dealers as it was the leader of the gang that offered it to him and it was intimidating when they all had guns he said.

So to make a long story short, hookers were involved, more drugs were taken, the hookers took his money, the dealers took his passport and documents and were blackmailing him and threatened to murder him unless he gave them $700 US dollars within the next 2 hours.

So he was back at the hostel higher than a cloud in the sky still under the influence of narcotics, and drunk asking his buddies for money to pay off the dealers and “save his life” according to him.

When his buddies told him he was stupid and still high, he proceeded to wake up everyone in the hostel asking for money as it was a “life or death” situation according to him and wouldn’t stop repeating the phase, life or death to everyone. That was the drugs talking I think and the paranoia setting in. Yes a drug dealer is blackmailing you threatening to turn you into the police unless you give him a ridiculous amount of money, yeah….good one.

As people didn’t know what was quite going on, as soon as we heard and saw some tuff drug dealer looking guys entered the hostel, everyone started freaking out thinking it was the dealers looking to collect their money.

So everyone started freaking out. The fact that I knew that a few months ago some gangsters broke into the hostel down the street and robbed everyone didn’t help my attitude in thinking it would all be ok.

So 5 am was the crazy “high” on cocaine smelling of weed, alcohol and cocaine Australian waking up everyone asking for money while the drug dealers are in the lobby of the hostel looking for him morning.

Later we found out it that it was the taxi driver in the lobby and the owner of the hostel that was also threatened by the dealers to take the Australian back to collect the money and bring it back to the favela or they would kill the driver and the Australian.

Needless to say it was a stupid thing the Australian guy did, on many of his decisions that night. I had my Pepper spray and knife at hand and rounded up all the other backpackers and put them on their toes, I thought it was going to get dangerous, but luckily nothing happened.

It was ridiculous trying to explain to someone that was pretty high that the whole plan of paying the drug dealers off didn’t make sense and that nothing was going to happen to him. But it didn’t quite go through his head that was swimming in so many narcotics, stimulants and depressants.

We at least got enough sense into the Australian to pay his $100 dollar cab fare and was in hiding the entire next day paranoid from possible look outs working with the dealers waiting for him to exit the hostel and was also hiding from the embarrassment of his freaking out and doing what he did to the rest of the backpackers including myself.

Sad thing is, the dealers are probably out there tonight doing the same thing to another tourist.

So lesson for the day… don’t be stupid.

And in accordance to all the public service announcements and McGruff the crime dog, don’t do drugs!

Not only is it dangerous and damaging to your health but your actions can involve others as well and put them in danger if not more, so be responsible people!

(End of public service announcement.)

So my time in Rio de Janeiro has been extremely interesting to say the least. I’m sad yet happy I’ll be departing soon in a few days. Until then and the next crazy story Ate logo!