Powder Wars: The Supergrass Who Brought Down Britain's Biggest Drug Dealers

by Graham Johnson (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.39

  Gangster Paul Grimes was a one-man crimewave with a breathtaking capacity to steal. Any villains who got in his way were made to pay - often with their blood. But when his son died of a drugs overdose, the old-school mobster swore revenge on the new generation of Liverpool-based heroin and cocaine dealers. Against all odds, he turned undercover informant. The first gangster to fall foul of Grimes' change of heart was Curtis Warren, aka 'Cocky', the wealthiest and most successful criminal in British history. Grimes infiltrated his cocaine cartel and led Customs to the largest narcotics seizure on record, putting Warren in the dock in the drugs trial of the twentieth century. After turning his attention to heroin baron John Haase, Grimes rose to become the boss of the villain's notoriously bloodthirsty 'security firm' - a professional gang of racketeers addicted to cocaine, explosive violence and non-stop criminality. But as his net began to tighten, Grimes was confronted with the ultimate dilemma. He discovered his second son was now a rising star in the drugs business. The life-or-death question was: should he shop him or not? Powder Wars also reveals the secrets behind one of the most controversial episodes in British judicial history - how former Home Secretary Michael Howard was duped into granting John Haase a Royal Pardon. Today, Paul Grimes has a GBP100,000 contract on his head and is a real-life dead man walking. Powder Wars is a riveting account of modern gangsters told in brutal detail.

• Used

  Paperback
  2004

  $12.16

  Powder Wars is the true story gangster Paul Grimes, a one-man crimewave with a breathtaking capacity to steal. He robbed safes, banks, lorries, warehouses, even whole buildings. Villains who got in his way were shot, stabbed, tortured, thrown out of windows and ejected from speeding cars. But when his son died of a drugs overdose, the old-school mobster turned undercover informant, swearing revenge on the new generation of Liverpool-based drug dealers flooding Britain with ?powder?. Focusing initially on Curtis Warren, the wealthiest and most successful criminal in British history, Grimes infiltrated his cocaine cartel and led Customs to the largest narcotics seizure on record, worth #260 million, putting Warren in the dock in the drugs trial of the 20th century. He then turned his attention to notorious heroin dealer John Haase. Grimes rose to become the boss of Haase?s ?security firm? ? a professional gang of rapid-fire, round-the-clock racketeers addicted to cocaine, explosive violence and non-stop criminality. In the morning they would take delivery of six kilos of heroin, in the afternoon they would send a cache of guns to Scotland and in the evening they would petrol bomb a nightclub. And then they would go to work ? as doormen on Liverpool?s buzzing and brutal nightclub scene. They would fight gun-slinging turf wars with rival door teams, kidnap drug dealers and broker the sale of swag ? lorry loads of stolen whisky and designer sportswear worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Finally, as his net began to tighten, Grimes was confronted with the ultimate dilemma. He discovered his second son was now a rising star in the drugs business. Should he shop him or not? Today Paul Grimes has a 100,000 pound contract on his head, a real-live dead man walking. Powder Wars is an account of modern gangsters told in fascinating, brutal detail.

• New

  Paperback
  2005

  $12.24

  Gangster Paul Grimes was a one-man crimewave with a breathtaking capacity to steal. Any villains who got in his way were made to pay - often with their blood. But when his son died of a drugs overdose, the old-school mobster swore revenge on the new generation of Liverpool-based heroin and cocaine dealers. Against all odds, he turned undercover informant. The first gangster to fall foul of Grimes' change of heart was Curtis Warren, aka 'Cocky', the wealthiest and most successful criminal in British history. Grimes infiltrated his cocaine cartel and led Customs to the largest narcotics seizure on record, putting Warren in the dock in the drugs trial of the twentieth century. After turning his attention to heroin baron John Haase, Grimes rose to become the boss of the villain's notoriously bloodthirsty 'security firm' - a professional gang of racketeers addicted to cocaine, explosive violence and non-stop criminality. But as his net began to tighten, Grimes was confronted with the ultimate dilemma. He discovered his second son was now a rising star in the drugs business. The life-or-death question was: should he shop him or not? Powder Wars also reveals the secrets behind one of the most controversial episodes in British judicial history - how former Home Secretary Michael Howard was duped into granting John Haase a Royal Pardon. Today, Paul Grimes has a GBP100,000 contract on his head and is a real-life dead man walking. Powder Wars is a riveting account of modern gangsters told in brutal detail.