Source: Greg Doherty / Getty
The man who hustled up and down the West Coast, did business with Pablo Escobar, and later, and saw Johnny Depp bring his unbelievable life story the big screen has died.
George Jung, commonly called “Boston George” amongst his crime circle and fans of the movie Blow, died Wednesday (May 5) at his home in the Boston area. He was 78.
On Jung’s Twitter, a short message, words also spoken by Johnny Depp in the 2001 movie, read: “May the wind always be at your back and the sun upon your face, and the winds of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars. 1942-2021.”
Jung began as a petty street dealer but soon became a major figure in the cocaine trade in the United States in the 1970s and early 1980s. Nicknamed El Americana, Jung worked with the Medellín Cartel, and at one point it was said that he was responsible for more than half of all the cocaine entering America.
In the 1970s Jung’s dealings netted him an estimated $3 million to $5 million per day. But by the late 80s he was on the run, and in 1994, he was sentenced to and on June 2, 2014, he was released from prison after serving nearly 20 years for drug smuggling.
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Boston George, Drug Runner Whose Life Inspired Movie ‘Blow,’ Dies At 78 was originally published on zhiphopcleveland.com
