Britain’s most notorious drugs baron explored in new BBC Radio 5 Live podcast

Gangster: The Story Of Curtis Warren is a new podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live which takes a deep dive into the UK’s wealthiest drugs smuggler ahead of his expected release from prison this year.

This new six-part series is from the team behind the acclaimed podcast Gangster: The Story Of Paul Massey and charts an extraordinary and dangerous journey from the streets of Toxteth to the sex clubs of Amsterdam and the opulent villas of the ruthless Cali Cartel in Colombia.

From the Toxteth area at Liverpool, Curtis Warren became the first gangster to be featured in the Sunday Times Rich List, reportedly earning upwards of £15m a week. One of the world’s most wanted criminals, he was codenamed Target One by Interpol and changed the face of drug smuggling in the UK by forging direct links with the cocaine cartels of Colombia.

Across the six episodes, journalist and presenter Livvy Haydock meets some of Warren’s closest associates and biggest enemies, from those who spent time with him inside the UK’s toughest jails to the customs officers whose case against him was thwarted, and the police officers who finally brought him to justice.

Livvy says: “Curtis Warren’s story is one I have always wanted to cover, a man whose dealings spanned the globe all the way from Toxteth to a global empire – ultimately demonstrating the tragedy of a business mind wasted on criminality.”

It’s a story that involves police corruption at the highest level, the evasion of justice, gang wars which left five dead and many more injured, a TV Gladiator and illicit sexual encounters in a prison laundry room.

One question still remains however: the whereabouts of Warren’s fortune, reported to be nearly £200 million pounds.

Gangster: The Story Of Curtis Warren is now available as a box set on BBC Sounds.