HE may have been locked up in a Dutch prison cell for almost a decade, but Curtis Warren is still the name in Liverpool's underworld.
Now the figure of "Cocky" looms as large as ever, with news of charges relating to a plot to smuggle 500kg of cannabis into the UK putting the one-time bag snatcher from Toxteth back on the agenda.
Even from within the confines of a cell in Holland's medium security Maastricht Jail, where he is seeing out the remainder of a 12-year sentence for trying to mastermind a £125m drug smuggling plot from the Netherlands to the UK, Warren has still managed to attract the attentions of the Dutch authorities.
If convicted, it will be the second time the man once dubbed "Target One" by Interpol has committed a major crime while behind bars.
In 2001 a further four years were added to Warren's jail sentence after he was convicted of the manslaughter of a fellow prison inmate whom he kicked to death.
The latest charges ask an altogether different question of the prison regime in which he is serving.
How is it even possible that one of the biggest gangsters of modern times might have got involved in a plot to smuggle large quantities of cannabis into the UK right under the noses of prison chiefs in Holland?
Mark Leech, a reformed criminal who served 14 years in more than 60 British jails and author of the Prison Handbook, says some inmates are continually looking at ways to continue their law-breaking deeds.
"Things have been smuggled into jails for years and with mobile phones being so small many prisoners have them brought in so they can carry on doing things like trafficking drugs."
Describing the newest twist as "the latest chapter in an amazing story", the co-author of a bestselling biography on Warren says the drugs charges open a sizeable can of worms.
Pete Walsh, who runs Milo Books which published Cocky: The Rise And Fall of Europe's Number One Drug Baron, said the authorities on both sides of the North Sea have taken their eyes off the trafficker.
"Warren may be behind bars but he is still of considerable interest to both the Dutch and the British authorities," he says.
"There was a trial last year at Preston Crown Court which involved well-known criminal faces from Liverpool and associates in Blackpool.
"It was during investigations into that case that Warren's name allegedly came into the frame.
"According to the police here, Warren was picked up on intercepted telephone calls from his Dutch prison talking about deals in a less-than-subtle way.
"Also, several of the individuals from the Preston case were known to have travelled over to Holland to visit Curtis inside."
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