Product Description

Shortlisted for the Macallan Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction

Curtis Warren is an underworld legend, the Liverpool scally who took the methods of the street-corner drug pusher and elevated them to an art form. He forged direct links with the cocaine cartels of Colombia, the heroin godfathers of Turkey, the cannabis cultivators of Morocco and the Ecstasy manufacturers of Holland and Eastern Europe. His drugs went around the world, from the clubs of Manchester, Glasgow and Dublin to the golden beaches of Sydney.

His underlings called him the Cocky Watchman. His pursuers called him Target One.

This best-selling biography uncovers his meteoric rise from Toxteth mugger to `the richest and most successful British criminal who has ever been caught.' It relates how the Liverpool mafia became the UK's foremost drug importers; tells how Warren survived gang warfare and how he corrupted top-level police officers; unveils the inside story of the biggest UK law enforcement operation ever undertaken; and reveals the explosive contents of the covert wiretaps that brought his global empire crashing down.

Thoroughly revised and updated, Cocky is a shocking insight into organised crime and an important investigation into the workings of the international drugs trade.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3420 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

OK, but not gripping
I bought this after reading Killing Pablo (an awesome tale, and a superbly-written book). To say that this is about the British equivalent of Pablo Escobar would be quite an exaggeration.

It's clear that Curtis Warren was a nasty individual, and clearly someone I wouldn't wish to cross. It's equally clear, however, that the gentlemen who wrote this book did very little to research their subject fully. They mention at the beginning of the book that several of the key players in the story are still subject to legal proceedings, and cannot, therefore, be named in this book. I'd suggest that it might have been better to wait until a full account could have been made, because all I got out of this book was a collection of facts that I'd have got if I'd been reading the tabloids in 1995 and 1996.

Their writing style is firmly in the tabloid journalist mould, too. Consequently, the book is very easy to read, but I found myself wincing sometimes at the amateurish way that some situations were described in the book.

As a factual account of Warren's dealings, this is quite poorly written. As an explanation of how Toxteth came to be a breeding ground for all sorts of criminals, it's more interesting, but that's only about the first 40 pages of the book.

If you have an interest in Warren, or drug barons in general, this book is a relatively interesting read. But if you've read any other books on the subject, you probably won't get anything new out of this one.

Superb insight into the richest criminal ever in the UK
A very interesting look into the life of Curtis Warren, who started from street criminal and ended up becoming the biggest importer of heroin into this country. Having read about all the publicity hungry London gangsters it is good to read about the very low-key Warren who was reputedly worth £300m. Warren's golden rule to his associates was never to speak about "business" on the phone. In the end he himself broke this rule and ended up with an 11 year sentance in a Dutch prison. Good read, buy it.

Cocky: not much is known about Curtis
Being from Merseyside I was particularly keen to digest this book as I remember being scared to leave the house back in the dark days of 1996 when gangland tit-for-tat shootings brought the city to its knees! However, to say I was a little disappointed is somewhat of an understatement. Much of the material was of an official nature and other tit-bits were merely common knowledge on the streets so groundbreaking information was severely limited. Also, it failed to directly engage a number of the main characters discussed in the body, such as Tony Bray, Curtis himself or any of the Ungi family. Overall, I found to be almost like a police report rather than an investigative piece of accomplished journalist which is unfortunately why I have rated it at only 2 stars.