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Curtis Warren ordered to repay nearly £200m criminal profits

6 Nov 2013 11:21 AM

Convicted drug smuggler Curtis Warren has been handed the largest ever confiscation order in the history of British Isles.

The verdict of the Royal Court of Jersey that Warren profited by £198 million from his various drug deals, means that if he fails to repay the sum within 28 days he will face an additional 10 years in prison.

The prosecution was supported by specialist evidence provided by the National Crime Agency. The agency's expertise in areas including telephone communications analysis and decoding Warren's conversations proved crucial in demonstrating how he was able to orchestrate drug deals from his prison cell and quantifying the vast wealth he has accumulated through his criminal activity.

Curtis Warren is currently serving 13 years for a conspiracy to import £1m cannabis into Jersey in 2007. Prosecutors accused Warren of coordinating a global drugs empire from his cell at Jersey's La Moye prison whilst awaiting trial between 2007 and 2009. Using several illicit mobile phones he contacted a network of known associates in an attempt to continue his drug trafficking empire.

Analysis provided by the NCA identified 35,000 calls made and received across 41 countries from Warren’s mobile phones between March 2008 and October 2009. NCA Expert Witness Tony Saggers also used his expertise of the drug trafficking industry to decode the communications, aligning details on logistics, methods, quantities, prices, geography and market dynamics, to indicate that Warren's activities were in fact related to drugs supply. In addition, he was able to help quantify the profit Warren made from his numerous drug deals, totaling a staggering sum of nearly £200 million, by highlighting specific examples of drug trafficking equating to tonnes of cannabis, cocaine and heroin and millions of ecstasy tablets.

Steve Baldwin, NCA Regional Head of Investigations for the North West, said: "The authorities in Jersey have achieved a tremendous result against Curtis Warren, one of the most prolific drug dealers of a generation. Making sure that criminals do not profit from their crimes is key to making the UK less of a target for organised crime, and we will be relentless in pursuing their money. This is an excellent example of how the NCA uses its specialist resources to complement partner agencies to target the most serious organised criminals.”