Police fear consequence of releasing ‘major player’ Liverpool drugs boss Curtis ‘Cocky’ Warren

Liverpool drugs boss Curtis ‘Cocky’ Warren is set to be released from a high security prison in just days after 25 years behind bars.

Warren, 59, who earned a £300million fortune and has been linked to Colombian drug cartels, will leave HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire in November.

Police are said to be concerned about the timing of the release of the ‘major players’ due to a major bust of organised crime, The Mirror reported.

‘Warren’s been the subject of countless meetings among top brass,’ a source linked to the National Crime Agency (NCA) told the newspaper.

‘They’re desperate to keep a lid on gangland shootings but he remains a major player with a big reach on Merseyside and beyond, so there are considerable steps in place to monitor any potential for fallout.’

Liverpool drugs boss Curtis ‘Cocky’ Warren is set to be released from a high security prison in just days after 25 years behind bars

Police are said to be concerned about the timing of the ‘major players’ release due to a major bust of organised crime

Dubbed the Pablo Escobar of Britain and known by the nickname the ‘Cocky Watchman’, Warren reportedly still has the support of senior crime figures in the maritime city who control the illegal drugs trade.

A source said: ‘There’ll be eyes all over Curtis when he gets out and he knows he’ll be restricted as to where he can go and who he can see.

‘He’s an intelligent man so I’m sure he’ll be keeping a low profile on his release.’

Warren spent the early 1980s as a nightclub bouncer before moving on to armed robbery and international drug trafficking through the 1990s which is believed to have involved Escobar’s rivals the Cali Cartel. 

He was first sentenced to 12 years in 1996 for trying to move a £125million drugs shipment from the Netherlands to the UK and given another four years for killing a fellow prisoner.

Just weeks after being released in 2007, he was arrested again for a plot to sneak £1million worth of cannabis into Jersey and jailed for a further 13 years.

Warren, 59, who earned a £200million fortune and has been linked to Colombian drug cartels, will leave HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire in November

He was first sentenced to 12 years in 1996 for trying to move a £125million drugs shipment from the Netherlands to the UK

Then, after failing to comply with a £198million confiscation order, received another 10 years. 

He is on a list of individuals who have been issued with serious crime prevention orders which will kick in upon his release.

As Warren, who Interpol once described as ‘Target One’, has served his sentence, he will not be on probation but instead monitored by the NCA. 

He will be able to apply for a British passport and will not be under a curfew. 

He will not be allowed any assets worth more than £1,000, must provide details of who he is traveling with one week before and anytime he goes abroad. 

Warren will also only be allowed one mobile phone, one sim card and one telephone number – which must be made available to NCA if requested.

In addition, he will have to give a day’s notice if he wants to get into a friend’s car and will be barred from holding cryptocurrency.