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by BBC Radio 5 Live
In the 1990s, Brian Brendan Wright, known as The Milkman, became one of the UK's most significant cocaine traffickers. His operation stretched from coca labs in Colombia, through Venezuelan jungles and Caribbean sea routes, to quiet marinas and racecourses in Britain. Bulk shipments crossed the Atlantic by sailboat. Cartel brokers negotiated deals in Miami. Public phone boxes carried coded conversations.At home, Wright cultivated a different image: racehorse owner, gambler, a familiar face in elite restaurants and private boxes. Behind that public life sat an organisation moving hundreds of kilos of cocaine at a time. Couriers, skippers and middlemen handled the risk. Cocaine flooded British streets while its organiser remained largely unseen.The investigation to dismantle the network lasted 11 years. Customs officers, DEA agents and police forces across multiple countries tracked phone numbers, cracked codes, followed boats and recruited insiders. Arrests reached from
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- Sep 10, 202630 min
The Story of The Milkman: 6. The Catch
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 McDermottAcknowledgements 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.
- Sep 3, 202631 min
The Story of The Milkman: 5. The Long Run
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 McDermottAcknowledgements 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.
- Aug 27, 202631 min
The Story of The Milkman: 4: The fix is in
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 McDermottAcknowledgements 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.
- Aug 20, 202632 min
3: Operation Extend
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
- Aug 13, 202633 min
2: Cocaine by the sea
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.
- Aug 7, 202632 min
1: The Seamist
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
- Jun 11, 202638 min
6. The White Cliffs of Dover
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 MaddockContributors 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 funeralA Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
- Jun 4, 202629 min
5. The Magic Balloon Gang
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 MaddockContributors 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 BiggsA Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds
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About Gangster
In the 1990s, Brian Brendan Wright, known as The Milkman, became one of the UK's most significant cocaine traffickers. His operation stretched from coca labs in Colombia, through Venezuelan jungles and Caribbean sea routes, to quiet marinas and racecourses in Britain. Bulk shipments crossed the Atlantic by sailboat. Cartel brokers negotiated deals in Miami. Public phone boxes carried coded conversations.At home, Wright cultivated a different image: racehorse owner, gambler, a familiar face in elite restaurants and private boxes. Behind that public life sat an organisation moving hundreds of kilos of cocaine at a time. Couriers, skippers and middlemen handled the risk. Cocaine flooded British streets while its organiser remained largely unseen.The investigation to dismantle the network lasted 11 years. Customs officers, DEA agents and police forces across multiple countries tracked phone numbers, cracked codes, followed boats and recruited insiders. Arrests reached from
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