From Hockey Star to King of Weed: Locked Up Abroad (Full Episode) | National Geographic

[Music] in 1992 I was one of the best hockey prospects in Canada and I was caught between two worlds all you got to do is take some stuff across the border from me it's just a little bit of we this is going to make us rich I was spinning and spiraling out of control I told you no one does me over I was caught up with the money the lifestyle I was addicted to it screw us man the disease of more I didn't take your stat the most fear i' encountered in my entire life my life was turning into a nightmare [Music] growing up my major dream in life was to become the best hockey player in the world my dream was to play in the National Hockey League it was all I wanted to do okay Ryan I want to see some improvement today okay son okay Dad my father worked very hard so I could play sports as I got older he really started pushing me harder and harder Come On Son another left you can do it one more in the moments that he was pushing me the most it was never good enough come on Ryan pick up the pace sound pick it up faster faster faster but I was trying my best all the [Music] time how' I do not bad Ryan but I know you can go faster all I ever wanted was to do good for him I was a young kid when I left home to go play in the best Junior League in Canada and uh I was this close away from my dream my first year away from home was extremely difficult because I was the youngest player on the team a lot of the older players were really taking advantage of me just using me as a punching bag literally there was a lot of initiations one night it got me very very intoxicated I wake up butt naked getting urinated on my whole body was Jiffy markered rookie I had never felt so degraded I didn't feel like a hockey player anymore I didn't feel like like a human being anymore I felt like a [Music] nothing my dream was turning into a nightmare when I got home after that season I was in complete relief I didn't tell my dad what happened I didn't tell my family I was too ashamed I felt lonely and I felt like I needed friends I guess I went to a bar one night and I see his old buddy that I haven't seen in a long long time named Kane silly bro how you been man see you man how's it going going well manen what are you doing now Kane's personality was like no other person that I've ever met in my life you have to come and meet everyone bro let's get some shots everybody knew who Kane was he had a reputation hey yo this is Ryan pro hockey player bro taking over man nicest guy in the world but yet could be a stone cold nutcase Mr bman whole bottle he had just a pocket full of bread and he was throwing it around like it was candy to kids i' never seen anyone spend money like him to run in Pro Hockey bro just to be hanging out with this guy who was larger than life that made me feel good later that evening Kane says to me so uh you're earning any money bro no I'm totally broke looks over at me with these crystal blue eyes so you're looking for work I didn't even ask what I was going to be doing yeah I was so naive we'll talk Manan and uh bring your hockey stuff why you'll see you tomorrow so the next day about two blocks away hear Boom Boom Boom Boom Kane shows up outside my house first of all my mom saw him yes uh is Ryan in and she said what do you do I run a music label I'm Kane and I'm Mrs Phillips my mom doesn't like him I'm mom pleasure meeting you miss Phillips my mom just shook her head just follow me okay yeah we end up at an apartment about 10 minutes away from my [Music] house I'm a little nervous and I was like what am I doing here what's going on here I'm going to make some money but how am I going to make this money all laid out on a plastic table it was the most marijuana that I ever seen in my life I'm from British Columbia Canada marijuana is part of our culture but that's a lot of weed I'm wondering how much is this like how much is it worth you're down with this bro all you got to do is take some stuff across the border from me easy work man easy work start unpacking your bag man next thing I know I got 20 lb of marijuana in my hockey bag I wanted to impress Kane I wanted to be part of this so in order to be part of this I had to do this the drive to the Border was about an hour and 15 minutes something about it excited me it gave me an adrenaline rush and I was like what's the worst that could happen it's only a little bit of weed but then I got border patrol behind me I literally was like oh my God I'm going the speed limit I'm taking it easy but I'm thinking what if what if what if and all of a sudden he took the exit and I was just like oh my god oh that was so close oh my God that was close as I approached the Border I'm at the point of no return I realized I was risking my career as a hockey player if they find what's in this car I'm going to go down [Music] passport so where you going I looked at the Border guard straight in the eyes and lied to him going down down in Tacoma Washington I play Junior Hockey there I said I've got my hockey gear in the back and [Applause] whatnot okay thank you sir you wave me through I felt so much relief I'm pumped I did it W mission [Music] accomplished one of us now bro this is just the beginning Amigo that night Kan hands me $11,000 $1,000 was more than I'd ever seen and we ripped it up like nobody's business te and now I'm the guy who's by buying people drinks I'm the guy who's buying trades of Shooters after what had happened with hockey it gave me that sense of belonging that I yearn for and I said yo dude when can I do this again I'm ready soon bro that was just the [Music] beginning that summer I'm doing all these weed runs I'm making $1,000 at a time I was spending it as fast as it came in in the states marijuana was completely illegal but it was accepted in Canada and was grown in abundance and the demand in the United States was unbelievable now I was a young punk with spare cash my mom and my dad we were both suspicious of what I was doing but I'm not the Ryan that I was before for I had absolutely no concerns about my mom or my dad I was losing my values hello at the end of the summer out of nowhere I get an offer for a pro contract down in the United States of America to play professional hockey no way you serious even after all that abuse that I went through I started dreaming again I start dreaming about flying on that ice okay [Music] thanks yes the offer was from the Witchita Thunder of the East Coast Hockey League my mom was ecstatic Ryan's now going to be doing what he is meant to be doing oh my God deserve it son can't believe it I'm going to make you so proud you've made us proud son my dad literally had a smile ear to ear he's like that's my boy that's the Ryan I [Applause] know a few weeks later I'm playing my first game in front of 15,000 plus people I'm on the team I made it [Music] I'm on the ice I'm coming down the right hand side the puck gets onto my tape and I shelf one right up top corner and I sced my first pro go the crowd went nuts that feeling of exhilaration and of acceptance the crowd loved me and then I see this young lady in the stands with the most beautiful smile that I'd ever [Applause] seen we made I [Music] contact and I had to meet her so I got my trainer to go talk to her and there she was nice to meet you Nicole I me too I'm right how do I play you were okay I wasn't really watching you ouch she was very real and authentic and genuine I mean it was love at first sight she moved in pretty much right away hey where do you want me to put these uh just in the lounge over there right on [Music] Kane how are you doing man I'm good dude my old buddy was always trying to T me back to the bud game the business is getting bigger and bigger man you need to make a comeback but I was super happy I was getting along with everybody my dream was coming true I can't bro got to give this a shot right life was good but drinking then became the issue everybody knew the hockey players so it was free drinks from the bartenders free drinks from the fans I wake up go to practice sweat it out start all over again drinking was sucessive the parties were excessive there was no off switch everything was extreme it was a crazy Year little did I know my life was about to change forever I came home from practice one day Nicole's in the kitchen and she's like can you please sit [Music] down is something wrong um Ryan I'm pregnant really yeah I was only 20 I didn't know if I was mature enough to be a father no matter what we'll make this work okay are you sure yes maybe of course inside I was just worried at that point the money that I was making in hockey wasn't exactly great it was good enough for one person but it wasn't good enough for three people few months later it's Christmas time that season our coach tells us absolutely no consumption of alcohol tonight we have a game tomorrow and we got to win that game and I got drunk I had so many thoughts running through my mind that I started getting into the booze quite heavily all right I'm back been killing me hey baby how you doing look at yourself you're drunk I'm not no what what are you doing you have a game tomorrow the next day I was absolutely [Music] hammered right guys you remember what I said we hit him hard and we hit him from the GetGo I'm just sitting there going oh my God I couldn't even think straight 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 Phillips you hear me man sorry coach I can't play I just can't play this game you're drunk again no way Phillips no way the coach just absolutely loses it no way no way he threw that skate at my head no BL he kill somebody like that and that's when he said you will never play for this freaking team again you're done you're done you're out of here I'm scared to death got a kid on the way now what am I going to do hockey and that's all I ever wanted but at that moment I just started really hating the game a few weeks later I became a father to a little girl and that was the greatest day of my life but at the same time I was full of fear how am I going to support this child I had no money coming in oh my God we opted to stay at my parents place in Canada oh come on let's get her inside but when I told my dad that I wasn't going to be playing hockey anymore there was just a look of absolute disappointment I'm wondering how am I going to make money [Music] again so one night I took Nicole to a bar but really I wanted to see Kane there she is the beautiful Nicole she did not like Kane at all I've heard a lot about you yeah heard about you too she saw right through his yes listen I'm going to go grab some drinks um let's talk I got this angel on my side saying you can't do it because you got this new beautiful baby in the world but you need money and this dark little devil on the side of my shoulder made the answer pretty clear hey baby I'll be right back okay man I for cash it was time to get back in the [Music] game what was that about and at that point for the first time I told Nicole about my history of smuggling marijuana across the border last summer I was smuggling weed with Kane I made a lot of money I said I don't want you to lose respect for me you're joking right it it's nothing heavy just a little bit of weed we needed money and I also didn't want to be living at my mom and dad's house much longer um she looked at me with a little bit of anger I'm going to go home she kind of shook her head and she walked away you guys have funcool wait hear me out I didn't tell Nicole but there was absolutely no choice in my mind I chose the bud game that's what I did I was just canle at that point but I realized that this was a lucrative business that you could make infinite amount of dollars I didn't tell Kane but I had a guy that I used to play hockey with that had a thing called the pace Lane sticker $500 cash up front workers they could go across the border without getting checked that is like gold that's the golden ticket to get things through the line things were working beautifully until old Kane found out about this get out what are you doing shut up phly hey move Kane relax I watch Kane put the fear of death into him no more side deals bro I told you no one does me over and he starts pointing the gun around absolutely loses it hey this was me okay this was my deal I brought him in I was never about guns I was never about violence I was into making money and Cane was dangerous I started getting such bad thoughts and feelings about him it was time to go solo and not work with Kane I had about four contacts down in the states that I could sell weed to I Knew most of the marijuana browers in British Columbia Canada a few weeks later I was ready to go I had over 100 lb of weed around the bed as I was packing the bags Nicole walked into the room what are you doing are you out of your mind this is illegal maybe it's just a little bit of weed a little bit of weed are you kidding me she said this is insanity this is even who you are you're either going to end up dead or in jail I don't want to be a single mom I don't want to tell Katie that her dad is dead she had literally come to a Breaking Point and there was nothing I could do I'm I'm leaving I I'm getting out of here and I'm taking Katie with me Nicole come on can we at least talk about this I'm done and she left she took my daughter back to the United States of America and how could I blame her it was over shut up it's my life you never failed to disappoint me Ryan just leave me alone I know what I'm doing my dad knew that I was was making illegal money and that made him even more disappointed at that point I didn't care this is the biggest mistake you'll ever make biggest mistake would be staying here with you I was going to focus on making money proper money I'm thinking the Canadian border is massive there's got to be a way through the wilderness and it just turns out that 2 and 1/2 hours outside of Vancouver it was a 12 km Logging Road that led all the way down to the United States so I put together a crew of my own this is the route four hikers that could carry 25 lb of pot on the back and they would bushwack about 6 to 8 hours our guy is going to meet us on the US side I'm going to come with you not that I don't trust you it's just uh it's a lot of money the next day we hiked through the Wilderness this is hard work finally after 8 hours we made it across hey we're getting close but when we got to the other side of the border the driver was not there I felt that something was wrong finally our driver shows up hey you're late I think someone's following me someone who is following me I don't know all right let's just do it let's go come on come on come on next thing you know we were in big [Music] trouble you idiot you screwed us man I flipped I was just I was losing it I need you to step on it man let's move let's move next thing I know there's a helicopter above our vehicle and I hear pull over this is the United States Federal government everybody out get out get yanked out of the car one by [Music] one get out get down down back I'm laying on the ground I got a knee in my back face plastered get graball shaking like a leaf now I'm busted I was charged with conspiracy to import 103 lbs of marijuana I was taken to Seatac maximum federal penitentiary in Washington there was about 150 inmates that were screaming and yelling new fish new fish we're going to kill [Applause] you I'm scared out of my mind terrified you feel like an animal in a cage that's when it really hit home I was so emotional at that moment I felt like everything was over and I had no idea what I was was going to be sentenced to one day in prison is no joke a lot of bad things happen I thought that somebody might stab me somebody might come into my room and do something to me cuz that's what happens in there the gang members that were in there like the Mexican Mafia the Crips the Bloods the white power they will kill you they say it's not like the movies it's worse my everyday life became an absolute hell after a while and the way that you were treated in there by some guards was like a dog Phillips come with me there was one guard that really had it out for me uh I don't know if it was the way I looked one day he took me into a room he locked the door turn around turn [Music] around take off your clothes why he said you have drugs on you don't you no straight I was terrified I thought I might get raped [Music] bend over bend over and he uh had to make sure that I didn't have anything on me all right you're clean get your clothes back on that was so humiliating I had everything stripped away from me I told my mom please don't come and visit me please I don't want you to see me like [Music] this hello Ryan hello Mom how are you I'm fine you don't look fine she said I love you son I love you it's okay you're going to get through this you're strong it's going to be okay sorry I'm sorry to see the tears in her eyes I realize now how much my mom actually really loves me I love [Music] you and I put my mom's through [Music] that my sentence was 18 months I was told that I was never going to be allowed back to the United States so that meant I wasn't going to be able to see my daughter ever again I lost everything that meant so much to me and number one was my little girl it just crippled me [Music] the darkness had literally just come right in and stole the light away from my soul and what Nicole said to me came back to haunt me I've never felt so alone in my life I was so angry that I was never going to see my daughter again I was like screw them I started making con Connections in there soon as I said I was from BC ah BC Bud BC bud can you yeah I get you some BC [Music] Bud prison is like a college for criminals you meet all kinds of criminals that are doing all different kinds of crimes now I got better connections that can do bigger things so why not [Music] Phillips you're up finally after 18 months I'm a free man take it [Music] easy I said to myself I'm going to step it up a notch and I'm going to do it bigger and better than ever go I'm taking back to Canada and I'm not allowed in the states anymore so when I got back to Vancouver I started using my network of connections from [Music] prison one guy led to another guy this guy led to another gentleman it was like the domino effect from there it just escalated I had trucks that were modified to fit a certain amount of marijuana I had a boat that was going across that could fit 400 lb in the hall next thing you know we met a guy that had a plane was able to go across the border under the radar with 250 lb in that plane going to our connection we can make $250,000 all of a sudden money started coming in so fast shoe boxes turned into suitcases and big big big duffel bags and it was just too [Music] easy but my daughter is now 2 and 1/2 years old without my daughter everything felt meaningless hey you call leave a message at the beep uh Hey ni please pick up I was using heavy amounts of cocaine [Music] I was doing it to numb myself I went out almost every night got blasted it covered up and masked the hurt that I was going through and all the emotions that were flowing through me I was spinning and spiraling out of control but I was so caught up with the money I was so caught up with the lifestyle that I was addicted to it disease of more that's when things started going really wrong I was now involved with the mafia there was Russians there was Mexicans there was Chinese whoever could Supply my demand at that point Ryan Phillips became a Target I get a phone call who's this he said it doesn't matter who it is you stole the 70 from us and we want that 70 back what are you talking about said 70 what if someone's accusing me of stealing 70 lb of marijuana people kill over that listen you don't want to upset us he was calling on behalf of one of the biggest gangs in Canada tomorrow 2: p.m. don't be late these are straight up killers that will take your life if you mess around that next day by going to a restaurant downtown Vancouver I've never felt so nervous in my life you thugs roll into the restaurant I mean these guys are straight up gangsters we know you ripped off the LA stash you was 2 million if you don't pay you're going to die it turned out that $2 million wasn't for 70 lb of weed that $2 million was for 70 kilos of cocaine I'm not a cocaine dealer I even told those guys that but stash I don't even deal cocaine shut up the whole restaurant's looking at what's going on here he just kept saying shut the up you get the money by tomorrow are you going down come on man I didn't do this boss maybe you didn't do it be quiet I didn't do it prove it to me right then you better do now my life was really on the line see you tomorrow so the next day I have to meet him at a warehouse and literally like I couldn't believe it they told me that a lie detector test was the only way that I was going to get out of this problem I'm feeling feeling absolutely petrified because I was getting tested to see whether I was going to live or die every single one of those guys was packing a gun that was strapped in with these electrodes all these what ifs are coming into my Consciousness what if I'm so nervous that I fail the test the main guy he was was just sitting there just staring me down and I was shaking like a leaf I'm going to ask you five questions and all you need to do is answer yes or no have you been to LA in the last 3 weeks no have you ever stolen anything from La no the graph was going as a straight line and I'm thinking is that good or is that bad have you ever stolen anything from this gang no have you ever sold cocaine no do you know where the 70 kilos are [Music] okay that's all I had no idea if I passed the test or not now I'm sitting there in a state of just absolute fear it was the most fear that i' encountered in my entire life [Music] know something you're lucky [Music] kid at that point I knew I just dodged a huge bullet those guys wanted to take me not just for my money but to take my life it was just a matter of time before my time was up [Music] that night I looked at myself in the mirror and I just couldn't stand who I saw I had become someone who chose drugs who chose crime who chose money over my daughter and over Nicole the two people that I love the most and I broke down I knew I didn't want this life anymore if I could do it all over again after my release from prison I wish I would have gone straight and not back into the game I didn't learn my lesson obviously I learned the hard way I have absolutely zero dollar from my marijuana business days not a scent loans bad business and Karma it's gone all gone I rode my bike across the country of Cambodia to help with the eradication of human trafficking and child sex slavery I thought that maybe just maybe I could [Music] help the one thing that I wanted more than anything else was to get back to the United States of America to see my daughter my dream came true no feeling can describe how happy I was for the first time in a long time I felt Joy [Music]

Channel: National Geographic

Views: 266,927

Keywords: national geographic, nat geo, natgeo, animals, wildlife, science, explore, discover, survival, nature, culture, documentary, perpetual planet nat geo, photography, Locked Up Abroad, Full Episode, Hockey Star, King of Weed, Locked Up Abroad Full Episode, Hockey Star Full Episode, Locked Up Abroad Full Episode Hockey Star, Locked Up Abroad Full Episode King of Weed, Locked Up Abroad King of Weed, Ice hockey star Ryan Phillips, hockey star Ryan Phillips, smuggling marijuana, family, career

Id: DubYG9gO60Q

Length: 44min 24sec (2664 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 20 2024