Gangster

Linda Welford was raised in London's East End in the 1960s; a tight and tough community with a reputation for a thriving criminal underworld, ruled with an iron fist by gangsters like the Kray twins. One of nine children, Linda lived a sheltered life with her family in Stepney until she met armed robber Mickey Calvey. This was the so-called golden age of armed robbery and Mickey was making a fortune sticking up banks and Post Offices with a sawn-off shotgun. When Mickey and Linda got married, she was allowed a front seat to Mickey's 'work,' as his gang begin planning robberies around their kitchen table. Not content with just making the teas, Linda starts to make suggestions and finds she has a taste for a life of crime. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

Linda, Mickey and the kids are living the high life when he agrees to take on a job with a new gang - a raid on a cash collection at a London supermarket just before Christmas. As Linda waits at home, armed police are lying in wait outside the supermarket. When the police rush towards them, the rest of Mickey's team flee, leaving him alone on the crowded street clutching his weapon. He is shot dead. When Linda hears of her husband's death something inside her snaps and at his graveside she makes a vow to provide for their two young kids by carrying on his "work" as an armed robber. But before she can get started, another man comes on the scene - someone altogether more deadly and dangerous. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

Linda discovers Ronnie's dark side as he lets slip a shocking secret about the day Mickey died. She can't leave Ronnie, because he's too dangerous. But luckily for Linda, the police solve that problem for her - catching Ronnie red handed trying to pull off a million pound heist. With Ronnie out of the way, Linda begins her mission to become an armed robber in an underworld ruled by men. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

A partial fingerprint at the scene of a violent robbery puts the flying squad on Linda's trail. While they watch, she continues to live the high life funding by a spate of terrifying armed raids. A team of officers recall the day they caught Linda red handed at yet another Post Office heist, and when Linda finds herself at the wrong end of the barrel of a gun, she knows her time is up. But her time inside takes an unexpected turn, as she finds a life for herself inside Holloway. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

After being released from prison, Linda's living the quiet life catching up on lost time with her two kids. Trouble soon finds her again as Ronnie Cook's sentence also comes to an end. When Linda brings Ronnie home for a visit, the couple are confronted by a hitman and Linda's small kitchen is turned into a brutal murder scene. But as police begin to question Linda, they discover that the 'The Black Widow' could have her boyfriend's blood on her hands in more ways than one. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

Linda spends the next 18 years behind bars with some of the UK's most notorious female killers. She shares stories of a life inside, a shock prison wedding and returning back to reality and a life on the straight and narrow. With her criminal past behind her, Linda reflects on the effect of her crimes both on the victims, and on her two children left to grow up without their parents. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

The last thing mental health nurse Amy expected to encounter when she took a job at Lindholme prison was someone offering romance. Then she met Joe - cheeky, brimming with charisma and a career criminal. But surely she knows better than to listen to his relentless attempts to charm her…. Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

Amy is risking it all for a relationship with career criminal Joe - but who is the boy from Bradford she’s falling in love with. Host Amber Haque delves deep into his past and jumps down the rabbit hole of #prisontok as she attempts to make sense of the illicit affair and who’s really in control. Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Andy Fell Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live Details of information and support with addiction is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Smuggle one package of drugs into prison for her boyfriend Joe and he’ll be able to pay off his debts. That’s what Amy needs to do and then she can concentrate on planning their future together, or so she thinks. It’s not long till he’ll be released and then they can have the proper relationship she dreams of. Joe insists the smuggling is just a one-off, but will Amy do what he's asking? Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

Highly-addictive, relatively cheap and easy to smuggle, Spice is running rampage through Britain’s prisons. And Spice is the reason Amy finds Joe zombie-like in his cell, eyes rolled back in his head. The reason, he’s in debt with other prisoners. The reason he’s asking her to smuggle something in for him. Again. Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Andy Fell Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live Details of information and support with addiction is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Amy knows this is the final run - just one more package of drugs to smuggle in, one more drop-off before Joe walks free and maybe they can leave crime behind. But this time, someone is watching. Will the couple stay loyal to each other, as a wider conspiracy begins to unravel? Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live Details of information and support with addiction is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Amy and Joe had been planning a future together, outside — but now they’re stuck behind bars, facing the consequences of their actions. In this final episode, host Amber Haque unpicks how their story ends - and finds there’s still love, but also loss. And for Amy, the question that lingers - was any of it ever real? Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Story and music consultant: Emma Weatherill Development by: Rob Byrne, Rhiannon Nevada and Emma Shaw Production management: Gaelan Davis-Connolly and Debbie Wadell Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning executive: Louise Kattenhorn and Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

In 1970s Britain, Chinese-heritage migrants worked long hours in restaurants and takeaways to build their new lives. But as the diaspora established itself, the gangs they thought they’d left behind in Hong Kong began to follow, quietly feeding off the very people they claimed to protect. Back in Hong Kong, Georgie Pai was already a senior member of Wo Shing Wo, one of the most feared Triad societies operating in the region's underworld. Triads are known for their rigid hierarchy, blood-sworn loyalty and reputation for ruthless enforcement. Georgie Pai travelled to the UK on a tourist visa and began working at his parents’ takeaway in Glastonbury. From there, he united scattered Triad factions around the country and recruited loyal foot soldiers. He built an extortion network targeting Chinese communities, with business owners ordered to pay protection cash. Those who refused were brutally punished. Presenter - Livvy Haydock Series Producer - Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer – Richard Hannaford Producers – Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong – Michelle Chan Music – Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants – Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer – Clare Fordham Archive – The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)

From the neon-lit Chinatowns of Britain to the back streets of Hong Kong, we learn why the Triads were feared by so many. The secret societies were formed hundreds of years ago as resistance movements but morphed into organised crime. Triad membership has long been outlawed in Hong Kong, but for decades they were a powerful and insidious force. Their influence stretched across continents, with the groups involved in drugs, extortion, prostitution, armed robbery, kidnappings and loan sharking. We visit Georgie Pai’s birthplace, a rural village close to the border of mainland China. Through those who knew him and the history of the region, we uncover how he was recruited into Wo Shing Wo and track his rise to the position of Red Pole – an enforcer with an army of disciples. But all that power can come at a cost. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt  Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Archive: Drunken Master II: Golden Harvest, Paragon Films, Hong Kong Stuntmen Association. Directed by Chia-Liang Liu and Jackie Chan.

Two Hong Kong nationals are arrested in Southampton after guns are found in a vehicle. One of them speaks to police, revealing that a flourishing protection racket is operating right under their noses. He also provides the name of their gang leader – Georgie Pai. Hampshire Constabulary sets up a Triad squad but quickly encounters a wall of silence. The terrified community fears not only for themselves but also for their relatives back in Hong Kong. Four hundred miles away in Glasgow, detectives hear similar reports of businesses being extorted and they hear that name again… Georgie Pai. He’s now on the radar of police across the country and under scrutiny from immigration authorities. But as his criminal empire grows, he forgets to renew his tourist visa. Georgie Pai is deported back to Hong Kong for the first time, but even in exile, he continues pulling the strings. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt  Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham

By the 1980s, Georgie Pai has been arrested in Glastonbury for overstaying a tourist visa, found guilty of terrorising Chinese communities in Southampton, and deported back to Hong Kong. But borders are no barrier for a man with the right connections. He slips back into Britain and continues to expand his empire. Manchester becomes his nerve centre as police begin building a database of suspected Triad gangsters. But with Wo Shing Wo’s growing power comes a rising tide of violence. One of Georgie Pai’s associates is brutally attacked with machetes, a warning that it is far from an isolated incident. Across the UK, violent clashes between rival Triad factions are becoming alarmingly common, each gang carving up territory in a bloody, escalating turf war. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt  Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham

A video war is raging across Britain’s Chinatowns, fuelled by a booming market for Hong Kong films and soaps, copied and rented out for huge profit. In Manchester, Wo Shing Wo quickly seizes control, establishing a near-monopoly on the lucrative video rental trade. But where money flows, so does violence. In Glasgow, restaurant owner Philip Wong is brutally murdered by contract killers wielding machetes. Police suspect his death came after he refused to cooperate with Wo Shing Wo, who demanded a share of his profitable Chinese video business. Despite investigations, the three men wanted for the murder have never been traced. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt  Commissioning executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham Archive: The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)

It’s the 1990s and Wo Shing Wo gangsters think they’re untouchable. Georgie Pai is fighting yet another deportation order after being caught in the UK again. He’s granted bail on the condition that he reports weekly to a local police station. Meanwhile, a team of television journalists set up a sting in Manchester, aiming to expose how the Triads operate. The broadcast is devastating, a huge ‘loss of face’, which in the eyes of many in the Chinese community turns Georgie Pai from a feared villain to laughingstock overnight. Georgie Pai ends up fleeing to Cheltenham, leaving the Triad life behind him. But in the gang world, there’s always someone waiting in the wings to become top dog. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt  Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham Archive: The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)

In 1963, a small-time South London carpenter joins the biggest robbery in British history for one reason - he knows a retired train driver who is semi-competent. And yet Ronnie Biggs will, for the next fifty years, be far more famous than the man who planned it, the rest of the gang who pulled it off, the train driver who was so brutally attacked, or the Scotland Yard detectives who solved the case. How exactly is a criminal ‘legend’ born? Actor Daniel Mays delves into unheard Ronnie Biggs tapes and takes us back to the rubble of post-war London to find out … Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Additional Production Support - Ashley Clivery Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock Contributors include: Professor Dick Hobbs, criminologist Nick Reynolds, sculptor and son of the Great Train Robbery gang leader Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber Brian Stone, cellmate of Biggs A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

This episode contains reference to self harm. We’re in Wandsworth Prison, where the lights never go out. And where freedom for Ronnie Biggs might only be a chess game or a rope climb away … Meanwhile - outside the jail walls - the British establishment is shaking under the weight of working-class anger, the Profumo affair, the Swinging Sixties, and a media frenzy at the severe sentences handed down to the Great Train Robbers. If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme, details of organisations offering information and support can be found at bbc.co.uk/actionline Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Additional Production Support - Ashley Clivery Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock Contributors include: Professor Dick Hobbs, criminologist Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber Brian Stone, cellmate of Biggs A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

What price freedom? And why should you never wear crocodile shoes when you’re on the run?! While the rest of the Great Train Robbery gang are serving thirty-year sentences, the runaways are enjoying the delights of mid-sixties Paris and Las Vegas. But the life of an outlaw is not all about cabaret clubs, Frank Sinatra residencies, and sweet freedom … painful plastic surgery and familial misery is part of the package too. Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Additional Production Support - Ashley Clivery Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock Contributors include: Ian Dowding, nephew of Biggs Doctor Sharonna Pearl, historian and face theorist Nick Reynolds, sculptor and son of the Great Train Robbery gang leader Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber Brian Stone, cellmate of Biggs A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

Welcome to Rio in 1970. Home to the most beautiful football team the world has ever known. Home to a brutal military dictatorship. And, now, home of the last Great Train Robber at large. The Ronnie Biggs rollercoaster is about to crank up for another wild ride that takes in a Scotland Yard sting, samba, teenage pregnancy, the tabloid scoop of the decade, and an accidental legal loophole that defies the British government. Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock Contributors include: Ursula and Chris Crocker, ex-housemates of Biggs Colin MacKenzie, crime reporter for the Daily Express Chris Pickard, ghostwriter for Biggs Jim Shreim, documentarian and neighbour of Biggs Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

Buy your ticket for ‘The Ronnie Biggs Experience’. For fifty dollars you will be entitled to Brazilian barbecue, a few beers, and an intimate audience with an international celebrity fugitive. Branded T-Shirts are available upon request. Live music may be provided by the Sex Pistols or, otherwise, a pop band of adorable children. Warning: the risk of a kidnap attempt occurring within the duration of this event is high. Snakes are also a known hazard. This episode has been edited since publication. Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock Contributors include: Michael ‘Breiti’ Breitkopf & Bruce Henry Leitman, musical collaborators of Biggs Ursula Crocker, ex-housemate of Biggs Colin MacKenzie, crime reporter for the Daily Express Professor Ruth Penfold-Mounce, celebrity crime expert Chris Pickard, ghostwriter for Biggs Alex Popovics, son of Biggs’ partner Ulla Sopher John Robb, musician and punk critic Jim Shreim, documentarian and neighbour of Biggs A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

The Great Train Robber fugitive faces a stark choice: depression, debt and death in Rio ... or surrender to the UK justice system. Twenty-five years ago, Britain Most Wanted septuagenarian ceremoniously flew home on a private jet chartered by The Sun newspaper, after 35 years on the run. Some celebrated him as a hero, others demanded he live the rest of his days in Belmarsh Prison. As the series comes to a close, actor Daniel Mays reflects on how and why Britain built-up the Ronnie Biggs myth. Credits: Presenter - Daniel Mays Producers - Phoebe McIndoe & Jude Shapiro Executive Producer - Jack Howson Associate Exec - Chris Pickard Mix Engineering - Will Fitzpatrick Commissioning Producer - Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive - Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor - Richard Maddock Contributors include: Ursula and Chris Crocker, ex-housemates of Biggs Professor Dick Hobbs, criminologist Colin MacKenzie, crime reporter for the Daily Express Professor Ruth Penfold-Mounce, celebrity crime expert Chris Pickard, ghostwriter for Biggs Nick Reynolds, sculptor and son of the Great Train Robbery gang leader Jim Shreim, documentarian and neighbour of Biggs Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber Brian Stone, cellmate of Biggs Mike Sullivan, crime editor for The Sun Reverend Dave Tomlinson, officiant at Biggs's funeral A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

A force nine gale off the coast of County Cork leads to a late-night report of a vessel behaving oddly in Cork Harbour. When Irish Customs board the Sea Mist, they uncover 600 kilos of cocaine hidden inside a dumb-waiter shaft. The seizure becomes one of the largest in Irish history and draws intense media attention as the crew appear in court in the small town of Cobh. Evidence recovered on board - including a UK mobile phone number and a handheld GPS tracing a route from Venezuela across the Atlantic - points investigators towards Britain. Former HMCE officer Barry Clarke describes how the case begins to focus on a cautious, elusive figure with Irish roots: Brian Brendan Wright, known as The Milkman. Set against the backdrop of 1990s Britain, where cocaine use is rising rapidly, the Sea Mist becomes the starting point for a long-running investigation into international cartels, middlemen and maritime smuggling - and the man accused of supplying industrial quantities of cocaine to the UK. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Louise Clarke Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Hattie Valentine Technical producer and sound designer: Nicky Edwards Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Editor and Executive Producer: Tara McDermott Acknowledgements Luis Navia is the co-author, with Jesse Fink, of Pure Narco: One Man’s True Story of 25 Years Inside the Colombian and Mexican Cartels

Who were the middlemen behind the cocaine flooding Britain in the 1990s? From midnight yacht transfers in the Atlantic to cartel Narcos in Miami, and US agents piecing together the network supplying Brian Brendan Wright. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Louise Clarke Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Hattie Valentine Technical producer and sound designer: Nicky Edwards Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Editor and Executive Producer: Tara McDermott Acknowledgements Luis Navia is the co-author, with Jesse Fink, of Pure Narco: One Man’s True Story of 25 Years Inside the Colombian and Mexican Cartels.

As cocaine profits multiply along the route to Europe, HMCE launches Operation Extend following the seizure of the Sea Mist. Barry Clarke and his team monitor payphones, trace Colombian numbers and build intelligence from a London office, attempting to map the network behind Brian Brendan Wright. Operation Extend becomes a long-term effort to understand a network that communicates cautiously and avoids direct contact. Alongside the logistics sits the human cost. Clare Campbell describes the impact of cocaine addiction on her brother, a respected journalist whose life unraveled. For investigators, the case is not only about shipments and surveillance, but the consequences of a trade that damages families while its organisers appear untouchable. As surveillance tightens, Wright grows suspicious, phone boxes are abandoned and tactics shift. Across the Atlantic, US agents continue to pursue the Narco whose connections help explain how bulk quantities of cocaine reached Europe. Operation Extend becomes a test of patience - assembling fragments of intelligence in pursuit of the man known as The Milkman. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Louise Clarke Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Hattie Valentine Technical producer and sound designer: Nicky Edwards Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Editor and Executive Producer: Tara McDermott Acknowledgements Luis Navia is the co-author, with Jesse Fink, of Pure Narco: One Man’s True Story of 25 Years Inside the Colombian and Mexican Cartels.

Horses and gambling form the backdrop to Brian Brendan Wright’s public life. In racing circles he appears as a wealthy, well-connected owner with celebrity friends and a passion for betting. Wright’s name begins to surface in allegations of race-fixing and inside information. As police investigate claims that horses were doped and jockeys paid for tips, Wright’s Chelsea Harbour flat is raided. Although charges do not stick, the scrutiny exposes how his racing interests provided both cover and access. Behind the spectacle of race days and nightclub hospitality sits the operational core of the organisation and we hear the personal cost of a network that, by 1998, had moved multiple boatloads of cocaine onto British soil. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Louise Clarke Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Hattie Valentine Technical producer and sound designer: Nicky Edwards Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Editor and Executive Producer: Tara McDermott Acknowledgements Luis Navia is the co-author, with Jesse Fink, of Pure Narco: One Man’s True Story of 25 Years Inside the Colombian and Mexican Cartels.

A covert entry at a lock-up garage in Essex reveals hundreds of kilos of cocaine hidden in holdalls. After years of surveillance, coded diaries and phone-box intelligence, Operation Extend moves into its decisive phase. The arrest of a key member of the organisation exposes encrypted contacts and overseas links, while pressure from South American suppliers forces fresh movement within the network. Sixty-one million pounds’ worth of cocaine is seized in a covert customs operation and multiple arrests follow, including Brian Wright’s son and senior associates. Meanwhile, Wright disappears. As Wright remains beyond reach, the network he built begins to unravel. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Louise Clarke Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Hattie Valentine Technical producer and sound designer: Nicky Edwards Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Editor and Executive Producer: Tara McDermott Acknowledgements Luis Navia is the co-author, with Jesse Fink, of Pure Narco: One Man’s True Story of 25 Years Inside the Colombian and Mexican Cartels.

In Spain, a coded phone call from a public payphone alerts HMCE that Wright is no longer hiding successfully. Surveillance confirms his location on the Costa del Sol, and an international warrant leads to his arrest and extradition to the UK. In Colombia and Venezuela, US customs pursue the cartel broker, the middleman linking Colombian suppliers to Brian Brendan Wright’s network. Former insiders give evidence in the trial against The Milkman. Brian Brendan Wright, The Milkman, has finished his rounds. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Louise Clarke Producer: Patrick Kiteley Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Hattie Valentine Technical producer and sound designer: Nicky Edwards Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Editor and Executive Producer: Tara McDermott Acknowledgements Luis Navia is the co-author, with Jesse Fink, of Pure Narco: One Man’s True Story of 25 Years Inside the Colombian and Mexican Cartels. Special thanks to the Molgoggers for their sea shanty.

Against a backdrop of unemployment and racism, Curtis Warren starts to make his mark on the streets of Toxteth. But a botched robbery lands him in prison for the first time. This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence. Presenter: Livvy Haydock. Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Scott Hesketh Technical production and sound design: Matthew Dempsey and Richard Hannaford. Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Cathy Clark Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock. Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Curtis Warren begins his remarkable rise from lowly street dealer to dealing directly with the notorious Colombian cocaine cartels. His first £100m shipment gets through - right under the noses of customs. This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Scott Hesketh Technical production and sound design: Matthew Dempsey and Richard Hannaford. Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Cathy Clark Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock. Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

After walking free from a major drugs trial, Curtis Warren steps up his international drug dealing operation. He’s introduced to world of unimaginable wealth, excess and extravagance. This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence. Presenter: Livvy Haydock. Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Scott Hesketh Technical production and sound design: Matthew Dempsey and Richard Hannaford. Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Cathy Clark Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock. Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

A bloody gang war breaks out on the streets of Liverpool. Curtis Warren is in the firing line. He moves his operation to Holland, but the police are closing in. This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence. Presenter: Livvy Haydock. Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Scott Hesketh Technical production and sound design: Matthew Dempsey and Richard Hannaford. Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Cathy Clark Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock. Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Curtis Warren looks to bribe a corrupt police officer to get a mate off the hook. But he’s got major troubles of his own as police finally catch up with their target number one. This podcast includes strong language and some descriptions of violence. Presenter: Livvy Haydock. Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Scott Hesketh Technical production and sound design: Matthew Dempsey and Richard Hannaford. Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Cathy Clark Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock. Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Just weeks after being released from jail, Warren finds himself back inside after his latest million pound drug deal is busted by police. He indulges in illicit sexual encounters behind bars. This podcast includes strong language and some descriptions of violence. Presenter: Livvy Haydock. Series producer: Paul Grant Producer: Scott Hesketh Technical production and sound design: Matthew Dempsey and Richard Hannaford. Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Cathy Clark Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock. Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

From the streets of post-war Birmingham, a young John Palmer - unable to read or write - starts to make a name for himself in the criminal underworld, wheeler-dealing jewellery and smelting gold. But it’s the Brink’s-Mat gold heist - the biggest armed robbery of all time - that provides him with the opportunity of a lifetime. This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Mick Tucker Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical production and sound design: Nicky Edwards Additional technical production: Richard Hannaford Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Commissioning editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston.

John Palmer heads to Tenerife where he starts to build a timeshare empire with the money made from the Brink’s Mat gold bullion robbery. But Scotland Yard are on his tail. His Somerset home is raided and there’s evidence to link him to ‘the crime of the century.’ Palmer is now a fugitive - but his options are running out. This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Mick Tucker Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical production and sound design: Nicky Edwards Additional technical production: Richard Hannaford Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Commissioning editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston.

John Palmer’s empire in the sun starts to make him some serious money, but back in England, he has to face the music in court for smelting Brink’s Mat gold. As he scams more and more people on Tenerife, he brings in a motley crew of henchmen to help keep things under control - and he develops and unhealthy appetite for cocaine. This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Mick Tucker Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical production and sound design: Nicky Edwards Additional technical production: Richard Hannaford Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Commissioning editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

As the violence on Tenerife escalates, the police gather more and more evidence against John Palmer. Back in the UK his pal Kenneth Noye stabs a man to death in a brutal road rage incident - and Palmer helps him escape to his chateau in France. This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Mick Tucker Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical production and sound design: Nicky Edwards Additional technical production: Richard Hannaford Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Commissioning editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

John Palmer is up in the dock for his timeshare fraud - and his decision to represent himself doesn’t go to plan. As he spends time in prison, his timeshare business on empire on Tenerife splinters and two of his former employees are brutally murdered. This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Mick Tucker Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical production and sound design: Nicky Edwards Additional technical production: Richard Hannaford Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Commissioning editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

John Palmer is out of jail - but detectives are following his every move. They’re holed up in a secret underground hideout 300 miles from London, after its revealed Palmer has some of Scotland Yard’s top cops in his pocket. Then, he makes himself a target after he threatens to turn super grass. This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Mick Tucker Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical production and sound design: Nicky Edwards Additional technical production: Richard Hannaford Journalism Assistant: Tim Fernley Production Manager: Sarah Payton Commissioning editors: Richard Maddock and Dylan Haskins Editor and executive producer: Carl Johnston

Join Livvy Haydock as she takes us deep into Death Row in the USA. While support for the Death Penalty in the US remains at over 50 per cent, there’s been a steady decline in the number of executions – from the modern era peak of 98 in 1999 to just 20 in 2023 so far. Only a handful of states actually carry out the killings. It’s even become more difficult for executioners to get hold of the drugs used in lethal injections, which is what led Livvy Haydock to a surreal story about a man in Acton, West London, who was supplying these lethal drugs to state penitentiaries in the US, and on to the macabre world of Death Row – and the people who live, work, and die on it. Whether it’s the bizarre hunt for new lethal injection supplies, or the tip of the glasses that mark an executioner’s signal, Livvy goes right behind the scenes into the chamber itself to examine the pressures on the system that have left just 5 US states actively carrying out executions this year and around 2,400 Death Row prisoners in limbo. We’ll hear from an inmate waiting to die, and one saved at the last moment. We’ll chat to the wardens who make it happen, and the campaigners who want to stop it. And throughout it all, we’ll discover the possible future for Death Row in the only western democracy still carrying out capital punishment. New episodes released weekly. If you’re in the UK, listen to Gangster Presents… Killing Death Row first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/40W5Chz Archive: KTVT-TV Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Anna Meisel Sounds design and mix: Richard Hannaford Editor: Clare Fordham Production coordinator: Janet Staples

Welcome to the Allan Polunsky unit in Huntsville, Texas, where Livvy Haydock meets a murderer with three weeks to live. This killer will die by lethal injection; we talk to the inventor of that jab, and learn how it was hailed by some as a humane solution for a modern death penalty. Join Livvy Haydock as she takes us deep into Death Row in the USA. While support for the Death Penalty in the US remains at over 50 per cent, there’s been a steady decline in the number of executions – from the modern era peak of 98 in 1999 to just 20 in 2023 so far. Only a handful of states actually carry out the killings. It’s even become more difficult for executioners to get hold of the drugs used in lethal injections, which is what led Livvy Haydock to a surreal story about a man in Acton, West London, who was supplying these lethal drugs to state penitentiaries in the US, and on to the macabre world of Death Row – and the people who live, work, and die on it. Whether it’s the bizarre hunt for new lethal injection supplies, or the tip of the glasses that mark an executioner’s signal, Livvy goes right behind the scenes into the chamber itself to examine the pressures on the system that have left just 5 US states actively carrying out executions this year and around 2,400 Death Row prisoners in limbo. We’ll hear from an inmate waiting to die, and one saved at the last moment. We’ll chat to the wardens who make it happen, and the campaigners who want to stop it. And throughout it all, we’ll discover the possible future for Death Row in the only western democracy still carrying out capital punishment. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Anna Meisel Sounds design and mix: Richard Hannaford Editor: Clare Fordham Production coordinator: Janet Staples

What happens in the death chamber is a push and pull between the desire of a victim’s family for justice, and the need to follow the letter of the constitution. In this episode we’ll see how the system tried to balance those needs. Former prison guards show us the final hours of a prisoner’s life. What does that tell us about the future of the US death penalty? Join Livvy Haydock as she takes us deep into Death Row in the USA. While support for the Death Penalty in the US remains at over 50 per cent, there’s been a steady decline in the number of executions – from the modern era peak of 98 in 1999 to just 20 in 2023 so far. Only a handful of states actually carry out the killings. It’s even become more difficult to get hold of lethal injection drugs, which is what led Livvy to a surreal story about a man in West London, who was supplying these ingredients to state penitentiaries in the US, and on to the macabre world of Death Row – and the people who live, work, and die on it. Whether it’s the bizarre hunt for new lethal injection supplies, or the tip of the glasses that mark an executioner’s signal, Livvy goes behind the scenes into the chamber itself to examine the pressures on the system that have left just 5 US states actively carrying out executions this year and around 2,400 Death Row prisoners in limbo. We’ll hear from an inmate waiting to die, and one saved at the last moment. We’ll chat to the wardens who make it happen, and campaigners who want to stop it. And throughout, we’ll discover the possible future for Death Row in the only western democracy still carrying out capital punishment. New episodes released weekly. If you’re in the UK, listen to Gangster Presents… Killing Death Row first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/40W5Chz Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series producer: Anna Meisel Sounds design and mix: Richard Hannaford Editor: Clare Fordham Production coordinator: Janet Staples