Gangster

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

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 Colombian suppliers to UK logistics men. As pressure mounted, Wright fled abroad and became one of Britain’s most wanted fugitives.
Gangster: The Story of the Milkman follows the rise and fall of a transatlantic cocaine empire — the smugglers who ran it, the officers who pursued it, and the human cost left in its wake.
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

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 Maddock
Contributors 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 funeral
A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

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 Maddock
Contributors 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 Biggs
A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

Welcome to Rio in 1970. Home to the most beautiful football team the world has ever known. Home to a brutal military dictatorship. And, now, home of the last Great Train Robber at large.
The Ronnie Biggs rollercoaster is about to crank up for another wild ride that takes in a Scotland Yard sting, samba, teenage pregnancy, the tabloid scoop of the decade, and an accidental legal loophole that defies the British government.
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 Maddock
Contributors include:
Ursula and Chris Crocker, ex-housemates of Biggs
Colin MacKenzie, crime reporter for the Daily Express
Chris Pickard, ghostwriter for Biggs
Jim Shreim, documentarian and neighbour of Biggs
Noel ‘Razor’ Smith, writer and former armed robber
A Peanut & Crumb production for Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds