Drugs Baron Switched To High Security Prison

Drugs baron Curtis Warren has been moved to a high security prison in Britain amid fears he was about to be sprung from jail on Jersey.



Warren has been a constant security
headache for police on the island

The gangster, who was once the most wanted man in Europe, was found guilty this month of a £1m drug smuggling plot.

Authorities were worried the 46-year-old was about to escape from La Moye, a Category C low security prison on Jersey where he is awaiting sentence.

He was dramatically switched to the mainland by an armed convoy and flown to Biggin Hill airport in south-east London.

He was then driven to London's HMP Belmarsh - home to Britain's most dangerous convict Charles Bronson as well as hook-handed cleric Abu Hamza.

Warren's barrister Stephen Baker said he was not briefed about the high security transfer until after it had happened.

He told Sky News crime correspondent Martin Brunt: "I had calls from the police, the Attorney General's office, and the prison governor who talked of security issues as the reason for the sudden move."

Warren (top left) and his co-defendants (clockwise: Oliver Lucas, Paul Hunt, Jason Woodward, James O'Brien and Jonathan Welsh

A Prison Service spokeswoman would not comment on the reason for the whirlwind security manoeuvre, which is understood to have been carried out by Interpol's former Target One.

She told Sky News Online: "The Ministry of Justice does not comment on individual cases.

"There are long standing arrangements between England and Wales and the Channel Islands to facilitate the transfer of prisoners."

Brunt added: "Warren's a major organised criminal, and any assessment would demand he's kept in a maximum security prison.

"Although he's been on remand for two years on Jersey, the authorities have always been concerned about the security around him as illustrated by the massive armed police presence during his trial.

"I always thought he would be moved to a top UK prison, but he has to be returned to Jersey for sentencing on December 4 and that will provide another security headache."

Warren, who appeared on the Sunday Times Rich List, had denied leading a plot to flood Jersey's streets with cannabis.

A jury at the Royal Court in St Helier found him guilty of conspiracy to import a controlled drug after a two week trial.



Source: Sky News
-