Notorious gangster Curtis Warren's new base revealed as ‘UK’s Pablo Escobar’ plots next move after prison release | The Sun

ONE of the country's most notorious criminals who was recently released from prison is now living in a waterfront property in his home city.

Curtis Warren, 59, was released from custody in November last year after he was jailed in 2009 for his role in a plot to flood Jersey with cannabis.

In 2014 a judge ordered the Liverpool man to serve another ten years in prison after he refused to pay back £198m.

A Liverpool man who asked not be named told The Sun that Warren was now living on Liverpool's famous waterfront.

The man also said that Warren had plans to launch a new business in the city. He said: "He wants to do something in security."

Warren has now been spotted back in Liverpool, seen sitting inside a cafe in the post code where he grew up.

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The man said: "He was seen inside a Toxteth cafe before Christmas. He was just sat there but it seemed to cause a bit of a fuss in the area. I think a few of the girls were keen to get a look at him."

Warren grew up in the Granby area of Toxteth in 70s and 80s, when the post code was blighted by high unemployment and unrest which culminated in the riots of 1981.

The Liverpool man graduated from street crime to international drug dealing, relocating to Holland in the mid 90s where he controlled a crime gang.

Warren was jailed in 1997 after a joint operation between British and Dutch cops codenamed Crayfish.

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The gangster, who was dubbed the UK's Pablo Escobar, was released in 2007.

There is now massive speculation as to what Warren might do with his time after his release from his latest prison sentence.

The Toxteth man is now subject to a raft of restrictions which prevent him from doing everyday things such as using WhatsApp or Facebook messenger.

Those measures form part of a Serious Crime Prevention Order used by the National Crime Agency ( NCA) to monitor individuals linked to serious crime.

Some insiders fear that Warren might be tempted to return to serious crime despite the level of scrutiny he is under by the NCA.

Many of the career criminal's contemporaries who took control of the city's drug trade after Warren was jailed in the 90s are now behind bars after police managed to penetrate an encrypted phone network known as EncroChat.

The EncroChat operation has had a particular impact on established drug gangs from the Merseyside region.

Some observers think that Warren might be tempted to try and fill the power vacuum created by the EncroChat hack in the city, despite the massive risks involved.

However last year a former associate of Warren's told The Sun that local gangs would be hugely reluctant to work with him due his notoriety and the level of interest around him.

If Warren does break any of the restrictions imposed on him he risks another five years in jail.

Warren and his bank accounts will be monitored by the NCA for the next five years. He is also banned from possessing more than £1,000 in cash.

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Police on Merseyside are also keen to target individuals and groups linked to serious crime after a spate of shootings last year claimed the lives of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, 9, Ashley Dale 28 and Elle Edwards, 26.

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