Warrington drugs and guns boss who was extradited from UAE jailed

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-57120785

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Leon Cullen was extradited from Dubai in February

A gangland boss who supplied drugs and guns to criminal gangs has been jailed following his recapture in Dubai after two years on the run.

Leon Cullen, 33, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 22 and a half years at Liverpool Crown Court.

Alongside his twin brother he "used violence to intimidate and control" while running a drugs and money laundering business, police said.

Cullen used a fake passport to flee in 2018 but was arrested in January 2020.

He admitted conspiracy to supply firearms, conspiracy to possess ammunition and conspiracy to supply cocaine at an earlier hearing.

'Fake identity'

Cullen had fled to the United Arab Emirates in January 2018 and was extradited from there, returning to Cheshire in February.

Detectives from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit detained him on an international arrest warrant after uncovering his fake identity.

Cullen, previously of Honister Avenue, Warrington, went on the run after detectives uncovered a drugs and money laundering operation he ran alongside his twin brother, Anthony Cullen.

They supplied cocaine and guns to other gangsters across the North West and "used violence to intimidate and control those they believed had crossed them" as well as to enforce debts, police said.

The pair used a business, Future Press Ltd, to launder money from their drugs network.

Detectives believed the gang supplied 50kg (110lbs) of cocaine across Cheshire, Bangor in North Wales and the North East between June 2016 and January 2018.

Weapons including an AK-47 assault rifle, revolvers, silencers and more than 100 rounds of ammunition were found.

Anthony Cullen was arrested in January 2018 along with 19 associates and he was jailed a year later for 27 years.

Det Ch Insp Mike Evans said: "Leon was the leader of the organised crime group alongside his brother, Anthony, but we know there are still people in the community who are close to him and are continuing his criminality.

"My message to those people is we will come for you."

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