Tony Maisey committed terrible crimes, but now ministers to drug addicts.,,,
Former gangster Tony Maisey seemed to have everything – a Bentley, a Porsche, a yacht, and up to £30,000 of crime cash a day.
But it was only when he lost it all and found himself hiding from “demonic powers” in a roadside cafe after terrifying hallucinations in the Amazon jungle that he found his Christ-centred purpose in life.
Maisey’s descent into crime began about age 10, in 1970s London, when his parents split “overnight” and his mum began seeing a gangster linked to the notorious Richardson gang.
Wanting to emulate the rich crime lords now visiting his childhood home, Maisey became “fully immersed” in a life of law-breaking. “I became a very nasty young man,” says Maisey.
He seriously injured his mum’s gangster boyfriend when, after years of tolerating the man’s violent attacks on his mother, he turned on his sister.
“I always said if he ever touched my sister … He ended up on a life-support machine,” recalls Maisey, who was involved in international drug trafficking and extortion.
“I could earn up to £30,000 in one day. I had everything, but I had nothing.”
ADDICTIONS
He became hooked on crack-cocaine and was “trying to drink myself to death”. At his lowest point, someone suggested a radical ‘solution’.
“I got very, very ill and a friend said if you go to the Peruvian jungle you’ll find help there – potions you can drink with certain tribes.”
In what’s known as the ayahuascan industry, Maisey camped with witch doctors and took hallucinogenic potions in a “terrifying six or seven hours”. He fled back to the UK, trying to flee demonic visions, and found himself in that roadside cafe.
“I was still very, very demonised. I was running from my own shadow. I ended up speaking with this couple and it turned out they were Christians. They were middle-aged and he was a doctor and he’d written books on Jesus Christ.
“I was looking for a place to stay and they said, ‘Come and live with us because we’ve got a farm’. I went and lived with them for two years and they taught me about Jesus. I was baptised.”
When he accepted the need to repent of his terrible crimes, Maisey’s life was transformed. He now ministers to those dealing with addiction and guides the loved ones of addicts.
He’s written a book about his life, Inside War, which features an endorsement by Teen Challenge founder Don Wilkerson.
