If you‘ve already made millions and you know you’re being watched, why keep offending?

Curtis Warren was one of Britain’s wealthiest drug barons, who had a remarkable journey from the streets of Liverpool to the summit of the international cocaine trade. He was the first person to trade directly with the notorious Cali Cartel in South America, and the courts eventually asked him to pay back an incredible £198 million.

Yet Curtis Warren has spent the majority of his adult life behind bars, unable to enjoy his ill-gotten gains. So if you’ve already made a fortune from crime, and you know the authorities are on to you, what keeps you going back for more? Why wouldn’t you just lie low and enjoy spending your money? Is it a career, a habit, an addiction, or something else?

On this episode of Bad People Dr Julia Shaw is joined by Livvy Haydock from the podcast ‘Gangster’, which tells the story of Curtis Warren from the streets of Toxteth in the 1980s to becoming Interpol’s ‘Target One’.

This episode contains clips from the BBC Radio Five Live podcast Gangster: The Story of Curtis Warren.

CREDITS

Bad People is produced in partnership with The Open University and is a BBC Audio Science Production for BBC Sounds.