The BBC crime drama "This City Is Ours", which recently premiered its second season, is drawing attention for its portrayal of a fictional Liverpool crime family. While the series is fictional, its setting is deeply rooted in the city's history as a major port and its enduring connection to organized crime and the drug trade.
The show's narrative centers on Michael Kavanagh, who attempts to escape a life of crime with his wife, only to be pulled back into the underworld. This plotline echoes the real-world influence of organized crime gangs in Liverpool and their significant role in the United Kingdom's drug trafficking.
The historical context for Liverpool's involvement in illicit trade dates back to the city's rise as a global port in the 18th century. Its strategic Atlantic trade route position facilitated not only legitimate commerce but also laid the groundwork for subsequent criminal enterprises. Peter Walsh, author of "Drug War: The Secret History," explains that Liverpool's maritime connections facilitated the early growth of the cannabis trade into the UK.
"Liverpool was the key transatlantic port for the UK and became so at a time when Britain had the biggest empire in the world," Walsh told the Daily Mail. "By coincidence, a lot of the countries that were part of the empire and with which we did a lot of maritime trade also turned out to be areas that became important in the cultivation of cannabis, such as the Caribbean, West Africa, East Asia and South America."
This trade began in the post-World War II era with foreign seamen smuggling cannabis. By the 1970s, Liverpool's native crime families became more involved, with figures like Tommy 'Tacker' Comerford establishing international drug smuggling networks. Walsh noted that by this decade, Liverpool's gangs were dominating drug importation into Britain, often through corruption of port workers and, at times, local police. The city's economic decline and rising unemployment in the later 1960s and beyond also created a pool of vulnerable individuals for these gangs.
The city also became an early focal point for heroin in the UK during the 1980s, creating a ready market. Later, party drugs like cocaine and ecstasy saw increased demand, a trend exploited by notorious gangster Curtis 'Cocky' Warren, who forged links with Colombia's Cali Cartel and is estimated to have amassed a £300 million fortune.
Following Warren's jailing in 1996, the Huyton Firm, led by brothers Vincent and Francis Coggins, emerged as a significant organized crime group. Walsh suggests that the expertise developed in early cannabis smuggling allowed Merseyside gangsters to play a prominent role in the cocaine trade, leveraging connections throughout the country and exploiting travel routes to the Netherlands and Spain.
While the Port of Liverpool remains a point of entry for some drugs, current analysis suggests that Liverpool gangs are now more heavily involved in distribution, acting as 'logistics specialists' and 'mobile middlemen.' This shift is reflected in recent law enforcement actions, including the jailing of groups involved in smuggling drugs internationally, such as to Australia and New Zealand, and large seizures of cocaine within Liverpool itself. Other operations have utilized postal services to distribute significant quantities of various illicit substances across the country.
Despite ongoing police efforts, drug smuggling continues to be a lucrative business for Liverpool-based criminal groups, perpetuating a cycle of harm within the community.