Scot Donald MacNeil was happy teaching sailing in the north of England when he was hired to skipper a yacht across the Mediterranean. The pay was good and the work was easy - or so he thought. But soon the truth was revealed: he had to sail the Atlantic to South America to collect one of the biggest hauls of cocaine ever bound for the UK.<BR>Realising he knew too much about the gangsters who had hired him, refusal wasn't an option. There followed a harrowing journey to Venezuela, where almost Ýpounds¨50 million of coke was waiting. But before they could escape, Donald and his fellow crewman were arrested. They were found guilty of drug smuggling and sentenced to six and a half years in the notorious island prison of San Antonio.<BR>He soon discovered why Venezuela's prisons are the most violent in the world, a nightmare gulag where hundreds are killed and thousands maimed every year in riots, vendettas and petty disputes. Thrown into a filthy, over-crowded dormitory known as Pavilion 4, and surrounded by armed gangs and crack addicts, he faced a daily fight to survive. Ferocious guards beat prisoners indiscriminately, and may cut themselves in "blood strikes" to protest against the scarce food, undrinkable water and lack of medical care. Finally a war broke out between the two prison compounds, involving guns, machetes and even grenades.<BR>Through it all, and despite witnessing the brutal killing of his friend and mentor, MacNeil clung to his sanity and the belief that one day he would be home. Journey To Hell is an account of one man's extraordinary will to survive in a world gone mad.