An ex-British drug trafficker who worked for the notorious Cali Cartel has been found dead in Dubai in the latest mysterious death with links to Liverpool gang crime.
Spencer Benjamin, previously jailed for 10 years for his role in an international drug conspiracy, was discovered dead in a hotel room in the UAE’s most populous city also dubbed a ‘gangsters’ paradise’.
Senior officers who worked on the case prosecuting Benjamin described him as holding fort over the Liverpool end of the Cali Cartel’s operations in the UK.
Evidence included images showing Benjamin meeting a cartel executive at a Pizza Hut restaurant in central London.
Colombia’s Cali Cartel, made famous by Netflix series Narcos, was one of the world’s leading drug mobs during the 1990s.
And there have been criminal underworld links closer to home, especially across the north west of England with a web of gangland connections – and subsequent deaths.
Benjamin, who was affiliated to Curtis ‘Cocky’ Warren in the 1990s, is the second criminal linked to that Merseyside kingpin to be found dead in Dubai.
In 2015, Liverpool man Thomas Wynn – said to have been extremely close to Warren – was also discovered dead in a Dubai hotel room.
Spencer Benjamin (pictured), who worked for Colombia’s notorious Cali Cartel, has been found dead in a Dubai hotel room – he has been described as the operation’s main man in Liverpool
Liverpool drug dealer Curtis ‘Cocky’ Warren (left) has been called the British Pablo Escobar (right) due to the power of his former drugs empire
Warren, nicknamed ‘Cocky’, has also been dubbed ‘the British Pablo Escobar’ due to the drug dealing empire he headed from the 1980s onwards.
Wynn was wanted by Sussex Police in relation to a vast heroin conspiracy at the time of his death that was described as ‘non-suspicious’.
Over the past 20 years Dubai has been seen as a haven for criminals from the UK and Ireland.
Christy Kinahan and his two sons Daniel and Christy Junior are believed have been based in Dubai over recent years. The three men are currently wanted by the US authorities who have offered a reward of $5million (£3.9million) for information leading to the capture of each man.
The organised crime group is said to be working with Hezbollah and using the US financial system to launder money.
A criminal barrister who has represented leading drug traffickers told the Daily Mail that British and Irish criminals based in Dubai were prepared to pay money to corrupt individuals who would give them notice if an arrest warrant was prepared in their name.
He said: ‘The authorities in Europe and the UK have to work with the authorities in the UAE on arrest warrants.
‘The big players in Dubai are happy to pay out money for information about this process.
Liverpool man Thomas Wynn (pictured), said to have been extremely close to Curtis Warren, was found dead in a Dubai hotel room in 2015
The circumstances surrounding Sepencer Benjamin’s death are not yet clear but the Mail understands he was found dead in Dubai (file image)
Colombia’s Cali Cartel, made famous by Netflix series Narcos (pictured), was one of the world’s leading drug cartels during the 1990s
Christy Kinahan Sr (pictured) and his two sons Daniel and Christy Junior are said have been based in Dubai over recent years
Daniel Kinahan (left) and Christy Jr Kinahan (right) along with their father are wanted by US authorities who offered a $5million (£3.9million) reward for information leading to their capture
‘They want advanced notice if a warrant is being prepared in their name. All they need to do is fly out to Qatar for a week or so and then return when the dust has settled.’
Drug dealer Michael Moogan, said to have been a ‘Premier League’ cocaine dealer, fled to Dubai on a fabricated passport.
Moogan was linked by police to a cafe in Rotterdam which was used by drug cartels to move cocaine from South America to Europe.
The Liverpool man, said to have been affiliated to the city’s Huyton Firm, was later extradited back to the UK and jailed.
The Mail now understands that Benjamin, in his 50s and from the Toxteth area of Liverpool, has been found dead in Dubai.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: ‘We have assisted the family of a British man who has died in Dubai.’ The circumstances surrounding Benjamin’s death are not yet clear.
In 2016, Benjamin was locked up for his part in a botched supermarket raid in a car he hired in his own name.
While in prison, Benjamin was said to have been involved in a fight with notorious hardman Brian Schumacher.
When Benjamin was jailed in 2000 for drug offences the court heard how the conspiracy funded his lavish lifestyle, enjoying holidays in Mexico and buying a jeep for his girlfriend
Schumacher, a former captain of Team GB’s boxing squad at the 1984 Summer Olympics, beat his mother’s partner to death and spent more than 20 years in prison.
Schumacher is said to have got the better of Benjamin in the prison brawl.
Benjamin was reported to have been embroiled in a gang war in the mid-1990s following the shooting death of David Ungi.
Mr Ungi’s death led to a wave of shootings across the city as enforcers loyal to the Ungi family took on a drug mafia controlled by Curtis Warren.
Benjamin was arrested and charged with the attempted murder of Liverpool businessman Colin Fitzgibbon, but the case against him later collapsed.
Police battled to control the rival factions during the gang war, deploying heavily armed officers to the Toxteth area as city leaders called for calm.
Warren, who was recorded talking about blowing up his enemies with Semtex, left the city and relocated to the Netherlands as the violence intensified.
When Benjamin was jailed in 2000 for drug offences, the court heard how his involvement in the conspiracy funded a lavish lifestyle.
Curtis Warren (left) is one of the most notorious Liverpool gangsters of recent times, while Vincent Coggins (right) led the Huyton Firm
The Liverpool gangster enjoyed lavish holidays in Mexico and bought a Jeep for his girlfriend.
Jurors heard how he was seen by officers handing over bags of cash to Venezuelan drug lord Ivan di Giorgio, who was an executive within Cali Cartel.
When police attempted to arrest di Giorgio at his London home, he launched himself from a first floor window and was injured. The drug boss was later jailed for 20 years.
Speaking in 2000 after Benjamin was jailed, Det Supt John Kerruish of Merseyside Police said: ‘The problem that we faced was that at this stage we had not fully identified exactly who di Giorgio was, but it was becoming apparent that he was working for the Cali Cartel.
‘As far as we are concerned, Benjamin was the organiser for the Liverpool end of the operation.
‘We regard his conviction along with that of di Giorgio’s as particularly significant in the on-going fight to stem the tide of class ‘A’ drugs coming into Merseyside.’
Curtis Warren – nicknamed ‘Cocky’ – emerged in the 1980s as Liverpool’s top cocaine importer thanks to his decision to forge links with Colombia’s Cali Cartel.
Warren would go on to flood Europe with drugs and gain an estimated fortune of £300million, together with an appearance in the Sunday Times Rich List.
The former bouncer was listed as a property developer worth £40million but was removed the following year after he was jailed for drug dealing in the Netherlands.
Warren was later jailed in the UK for drug dealing offences before being released in November 2022 after a 13-year spell – though was arrested seven months later.
Two years later, he avoided jail despite pleading guilty to breaching a Serious Crime Prevention Order, including by using an undeclared mobile phone.
While Warren has since claimed to be poor, prosecutors have told the courts that he is linked to a network of criminal assets and is worth in the region of £200million.
He is said to own countless shops and apartments in Liverpool city centre which are not in his name.
According to insiders, Warren’s rise from obscurity to the upper echelons of organised crime is down to his friendship with a man known as The Banker.
The Liverpool businessman, now in his 80s, is said to have spotted Warren’s rare qualities years ago and opened up his contact book to the aspiring gangster.
The Banker is said by some to be the UK’s most powerful crime boss. Allegedly friends with some of the biggest names in British football, he is now a reclusive figure whose real name is only whispered.
BBC drama series This City Is Ours stars Sean Bean as kingpin Ronnie Phelan, whose decision to retire kicks off a war of succession
Brian Charrington (pictured), an ex-associate of Curtis Warren, died in July 2025 in Marina Baixa Hospital in Villajoyosa, near Benidorm in Spain
Warren’s jailing in 1996 left a power vacuum that would soon be filled by the Huyton Firm, led by brothers Vincent and Francis Coggins, which the National Crime Agency considers to be ‘in the upper tiers of organised crime in the UK’.
The smuggling of cocaine through Liverpool was a key feature of last year’s popular BBC drama series This City Is Ours, starring Sean Bean.
He played kingpin Ronnie Phelan, whose decision to retire kicks off a war of succession between his loyal partner Michael – played by James Nelson-Joyce – and his eldest son Jamie, depicted by Jack McMullen.
Meanwhile, 68-year-old Brian Charrington – once listed in the ‘top 10 criminals in Europe’ – died on the Costa Blanca in Spain last July.
Charrington, an ex-associate of Curtis Warren, passed away at Marina Baixa Hospital in Villajoyosa, near Benidorm – while at the time waiting to hear whether he had to start a prison sentence in Spain over a 2013 cocaine seizure.
His defence lawyer had requested his eight-year prison term be suspended on health grounds.
Charrington started as a car dealer in Middlesbrough but went on to own a Rolls-Royce, Bentley, private jet and fleet of yachts – funded by his international drugs empire.
He teamed up in the 1980s with Warren, to import cocaine to the UK from Venezuela.