MARK WAHLBERG: DRUGS & MURDER THUG LIFE

"Marky" Mark Wahlberg 10/13/91 in Chicago, Il.

Controversial  MARK WAHLBERG was not only a drug dealer but was up on attempted murder charges back in his Beantown gangsta days . . .

 In a case of art imitating life, in Mark’s new flick “Contraband” he  plays a tough as nails smuggler – but in real life, he’s confessed  to selling drugs in his Boston neighborhood as a teen.

Now 40 and one of Holly­wood’s biggest action stars, Mark says he dropped out of school at age 14 and began making his living on the streets of Dorchester, Mass., as a thief, gang member and dope dealer.

By the age of 16, he was fac­ing attempted murder charges after beating a man during a botched rob­bery attempt.

But he pleaded to the lesser charge of assault and served just 45 days in prison.

Wahlberg now credits a Catholic priest with changing his life.

ALL the details are in the newest ENQUIRER!