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OC Housewife Tells of Secret Life as Cocaine Smuggler

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The Orange stands alone. Photo by ccharmon via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

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TV shows about suburban parents going rogue and becoming drug dealers are becoming de rigueur, from "Breaking Bad" to "Weeds." But for one OC woman, the somewhat unfathomable notion of going from law-abiding soccer mom to player in the drug trade became a reality.

NBC Los Angeles reports on the story of a woman identified by the cops as Jane Doe and by the media as Marie. Tapped to become a drug mule in the 90s after her husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness and she found herself unable to support her family, Marie began making $10,000 a day toting kilos of cocaine through airports in her suitcase. She says that dealers wanted her because she was "blond and white."

But after being discovered by an undercover agent and agreeing to become a police informant, Marie soon found herself pleading for her life during a routine sting.

She had gone to a motel to deliver a shipment, but once she got there, one of her customers pulled a gun, cocked it and held it to her head, demanding money. Marie insisted that she didn't have any, but was sure that she was breathing her last breaths.

"I was ready to die. I was ready to die," she told NBC.

Before the situation turned ugly(er), federal agents broke in and arrested the dealers, setting Marie free.

Not much more information is available about our friend Marie, as far as where she lives or what she's dong now. But let no one ever again suggest that OC housewives lead predictable lives.

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