The Cartel: The Inside Story of Britain's Biggest Drugs Gang

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Mr Smith, 55, started a new life in Warrington after he was released from the prison system on licence several years ago. They had a villa in Spain bought with state handouts, while the drugs cash poured in and business was good. Her 40-year-old son Jason (above, left) was in charge of transport; her other son, Ian (above, right), aged 39, was in charge of logistics. Place of safety

They can be very intimidating and are very good at getting at witnesses, which is why the police find it very difficult to build cases, and they’re extremely good drug dealers, so it’s a recipe for success as an underworld crime family”. Ripping off the state He said: "Shaun has a great personal story, although unlike many of the people I wrote about he never sold drugs. My understanding is that Shaun needed a gun for his own protection because he was being threatened by dangerous people. " A former criminal from Liverpool says he is involved in negotiations with Hollywood-based production companies interested in making a film about his life. Graham Johnson: The police I spoke to said it’s like a global corporation with hundreds—possibly thousands—of employees in a rigid hierarchy. It’s got hundreds of millions, possibly billions of pounds if you count the asset values of the businesses they own and the drugs they trade. It was founded in 1973, and it’s still going strong now after 40 years.Mr Smith says he is now involved in advanced stage negotiations with production companies and agents who are interested in dramatising his life story. a b Siddle, John (2013-07-05). "The Devil struggled against demons, says author". Liverpool Echo . Retrieved 2023-01-21.

A lot of this is the social history of the city, with drug gangs becoming more and more powerful over recent decades. Johnson has written for publications including the News of the World, the Sunday Mirror, The Observer, Vice, The Guardian and the Liverpool Echo, and often publishes crime stories under different bylines. Johnson worked at the Sunday Mirror from 1997 to 2005 and for six years was the newspaper's Investigations Editor. [1] [3] Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here Read More Related Articles The Fitzgibbons stayed at the top of their game because they use extreme violence to protect their interests. Graham Johnson, crime writer

When I started writing books about organised crime in Liverpool in 2003 it was very much a cult audience – now it’s mainstream." year-old Christine Fitzgibbon (above, centre) is the matriarchal head of a Merseyside family whose drug connections extended round the globe. Between 1995 and 1997, Johnson worked at the News of the World. [2] He had a notorious scoop about the Beast of Bodmin Moor at the paper. [3] Johnson later explained that there was of culture of fear at the paper and he fabricated stories under pressure from his bosses. [4]