Drugs smuggler Howard ‘Mr Nice’ Marks dies at 70

Howard Marks, the former drugs smuggler known as Mr Nice, has died, aged 70. Last year, he announced that he had inoperable bowel cancer.

James Brown, Marks’ former editor at Loaded magazine, told The Guardian that Marks was a “true, modern-day folk hero”, who had done “so many funny, shocking, illegal things”.

Marks had a monthly column at the magazine for five years and released his autobiography, Mr Nice, which detailed his many years smuggling cannabis, in 1996.