John Henshaw, a resident of Greater Manchester in the UK, was backpacking in Bolivia when he was reportedly arrested at the La Paz International Airport on February 9 for “drug trafficking charges.” According to John’s family, he was carrying “two grams of weed” at the time of his arrest. The 39-year-old is now incarcerated in the San Pedro prison, which was infamously featured on the TV show Behind Bars: The World’s Toughest Prisons. John’s court hearing can take up to 90 days which means for the time being he has to stay in jail. John’s ex-partner and 15-year-old daughter are rallying funds and campaigning to secure John’s release.
The San Pedro prison is known for being informally run on a system of payments, in which inmates have to pay for things like food, toiletries and even their jail cell. The prison is believed to be operated by the inmates and is merely guarded by police, who are only concerned with keeping the inmates inside.
John’s worried ex-partner told Manchester Evening News that they were able to speak to him via an illegal phone inside the prison. Reportedly, John told them that he has no access to clean water and food, and as a result, he has been sick and suffered weight loss. His well-wishers have now set up a GoFundMe to collect funds for his legal fees and prison allowance. He has already spent 50 days in prison but so far he is still waiting for the first hearing. The British Embassy in Bolivia told the media that they are trying to help John.
John is not the only British man who was thrown in the San Pedro prison. Back in 1996, Thomas McFadden was incarcerated in the same prison after he was found with “cocaine” at the La Paz International Airport. McFadden spent five years in prison and later spoke about the prison’s brutal but unique ecosystem in various documentaries. He also helped writer Rusty Young write the best-selling non-fiction book titled, Marching Powder, about his time in prison.
McFadden recalled his five-year stay at the San Pedro prison in a 2017 documentary called Wildlands and explained that one portion of the prison was made like a hotel with facilities like jacuzzis, while the other end was unclean and deprived. The San Pedro prison holds over 3,000 inmates, even though its holding capacity is just 600.
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