Drugs baron launched 'business support service' after prison release

Monday 10 July 2023

A notorious UK drugs baron – who once tried to smuggle drugs worth more than £1m into Jersey – launched a 'business support service' shortly after his release from prison last year, according to records on the UK's register of companies.

Curtis Warren is listed as the sole director of 'CFW Services Limited' which, according to the Companies House website, was incorporated on 21 February 2023.

This means the company, described as a "business support service", was launched just a few months before the 60-year-old was arrested last week for allegedly breaching the terms of his Serious Crime Prevention Order which came into force when he was released from prison in November.

Warren was allegedly detained at a location in Boldon Colliery, South Tyneside in the early hours of Wednesday 5 July – just seven months after his release from prison when his barrister said that he only wanted “peace and quiet”.

Pictured: The listing for 'CFW Services Limited' on the Companies House website.

Following his release from maximum security Whitemore prison in Cambridgeshire in 2022 after 14 years behind bars, Warren faced a tough set of restrictions imposed by the National Crime Agency in order to prevent him from re-entering the world of crime.

Among them were strict travel restrictions, and bans on using WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, handling cash of £1,000 of more and dabbling in cryptocurrency. 

However, Warren is currently being questioned in custody over alleged breaches of these restrictions, which “relate to the unauthorised use of mobile phones, vehicles, bank accounts and travel”.

Breaches of a Serious Crime Prevention Order can result in up to five years behind bars, an unlimited fine, or both.

Pictured: Curtis Warren is listed as the business's 'Company Director'.

Warren – who was once listed on the Sunday Times Rich List, having amassed a fortune estimated at £300 million – was initially sentenced in 2009 by a jury in Jersey, for attempting what would have been the island’s biggest drugs importation.

He later failed in a bid to appeal a ten year sentence, of which he had to serve at least half, after failing to provide funds when the Royal Court ordered him to pay £198m.

His company CFW Services Limited is currently listed as "active" on the register.