Drugs baron facing huge restrictions on release from prison

Tuesday 23 February 2021

A notorious drugs baron, who planned to flood Jersey with a £1m cannabis haul, has been put on a new watchlist aimed at preventing him from becoming involved in serious organised crime again when he leaves prison.

Curtis Warren (58) is currently serving time in HMP Frankland over the foiled £1m plot (13 years) and failure to pay a £198m confiscation order (10 years).

The Liverpool-born convict’s roots in crime extend back decades, having previously been sentenced to jail for other high-profile drugs plots and, at one point, becoming one of Interpol’s 'most wanted.'

Through his crimes, he accumulated tens of millions, even appearing on the Sunday Times Rich List.

To ensure he doesn’t return to the criminal world upon his release from prison, he was added to the latest version of the National Crime Agency’s ‘Ancillary Orders Register’ last week. 

It means he will have to abide by a number of rules upon his release or could face being jailed again. 

The orders include restrictions on:

• his access to communications devices and the internet;
• his ability to make transfers, borrow money, hold trusts or shares, and foreign or virtual currency;
• holding assets or property valued at more than £1,000;
• travel outside England and Wales;
• and making commercial imports and exports.

“Many career criminals regard prison as an interruption which rarely marks the end of their involvement in organised crime. This is why the NCA has a policy of Lifetime Management,” Alison Abbott, Head of Lifetime Management at the NCA explained.

“Through the NCA’s Lifetime Management programme we use Serious Crime Prevention Orders, Travel Restriction Orders and Financial Reporting Orders, as an extra layer of prevention.

“They ensure we firmly have these individuals on our radar, especially after prison, and anything that suggests that they’re slipping into old ways can be detected early on.”