All strict rules ‘British Pablo Escobar’ must stick to or face going back to prison
Curtis Warren, sometimes referred to as a 'British Pablo Escobar', has dozens of strict rules he must follow if he doesn't want to end up back behind bars.
He became one of the UK's most notorious crime bosses and made so much money from his drug empire that he once featured on the Sunday Times Rich List.
At one point, he was Interpol's most wanted criminal with the codename 'Target One', and in 1996 he was sentenced to 12 years in prison in the Netherlands after being caught in possession of large amounts of illegal drugs.
Guns, grenades, gas canisters and ammunition were also found as part of a police investigation, along with lots of cash.
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Warren's sentence was extended in 2001 after he was found guilty of manslaughter where a 1999 fight resulted in the death of another inmate.
He was released in 2007 but was only out of prison for five weeks before he was arrested again, this time in Jersey, and in 2009 he was sentenced to 13 years behind bars for conspiracy to smuggle cannabis.
Warren was released from prison in 2022 with a series of strict rules he had to live by under a Serious Crime Prevention Order (SCPO) in order to avoid getting into trouble again, and in 2023 he was arrested again for breaking them.
Pleading guilty to six SCPO breaches, Warren was sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, so he needs to make sure he follows the rules to avoid prison.
Those rules are a plethora of restrictions which mean Warren cannot do certain things and must let the authorities know if he plans to do other things such as leave England and Wales or get a new form of ID.
Alison Abbott, head of the National Crime Agency's prisons and lifetime management unit, previously said: "Curtis Warren treated his order with contempt, breaching it within days of his release from prison, and going on to breach it multiple times. Serious Crime Prevention Orders are a powerful tool to help prevent those convicted of serious offences continue their criminality when they come out of prison.
"This case should serve as a warning to others. As we did with Warren, we will actively monitor all those who are subject to such orders, and they will stay on our radar even after they are released from jail."
According to the Liverpool Echo, the SCPO for Warren lasts until 20 November, 2027 and contains the following rules:
- Restriction and notification of communications devices
- Restriction and notification of email accounts
- Prohibition on the use of any instant messaging service
- Notification of online user names or identities
- Restriction on Internet access
- Prohibition on the use of public on non-authorised communication facilities
- Restriction on possession of cash
- Restriction on bank accounts and financial instruments
- Restriction and notification of foreign assets
- Restriction and notification of money transfers
- Restriction and notification of borrowing
- Restriction on virtual currency accounts
- Restriction on e-money
- Prohibition on the use of virtual payment systems
- Prohibition on the use of trusts
- Shares
- Financial reporting
- Notification of business interests
- Notification of income
- Notification of acquisition of a new passport or identification card / prohibition on use of alias
- Restriction on the ownership and use of vehicles
- Notification of travel outside England and Wales
- Notification of premises
- Notification of commercial imports and exports
- Notification of postal services
- Prohibition on the possession and use of anti-surveillance equipment
- Restrictions in relation to firearms
- Prohibition on possession and use of equipment relating to police airwaves
- Notification of changes related to the order.
Joe Harker