Brian Charrington, the infamous ‘Teflon Don’, was also known as the ‘Wikipedia Narco’ in Spain as he updated and corrected his own listing on the online encyclopedia
A notorious British drug baron nicknamed “Teflon Don” because of his ability to evade justice has died in Spain.
Brian Charrington was also known as the “Wikipedia Narco” in Spain as he updated and corrected his own online profile….even behind bars. He died in hospital in Spain after suffering a heart attack. He also had a lung condition possibly linked to his exposure to asbestos early in his working life, his family said today.
His villa in Calpe, near Benidorm, was raided by police in 2013. He bought a Rolls-Royce, Bentley and a fleet of yachts from the proceeds of his crime. In 2011 his fortune was estimated at £20m. But he had spent many years behind bars, and at the time of his death he was waiting to see if he would have to serve time on a historic case, according to sources on his native Teesside.
His son, also called Brian, announced his father’s death in a Facebook post which received hundreds of messages of condolence. His dad, a former car dealer from Middlesbrough, worked with Colombia’s most fearsome drug networks and UK gangsters including Curtis Warren.
He had been sentenced to 15 years behind bars in 2018, but that was later reduced on appeal. His life story was straight out of a Netflix series.
It involved huge quantities of cocaine, cash and court cases that once earned him the nickname “Teflon Don” because of his ability to escape prosecution. Brian had three children, Brian Junior, 48, Danny, 44, and Ray, 38. Brian Jnr told the Mirror : “He was a crazy b***tard. I cannot think of anything else to say really. He was just crazy.”
His role as a police informer was revealed at a trial in the 1990s which resulted in the collapse of the case against him.
But Brian jnr added: “Those who knew him, knew that he was not really an informer. He never hid where he lived – he would not have been there if he had been an informer.
“He had inside information at times, but he did not give information to the police.”
He lived for years in Spain, where he apparently kept crocodiles in his swimming pool. He was found guilty of a plot to import nearly 200 kilos of cocaine into Spain from South America in 2018.
He was ordered by the court to pay more than £27m – 31 million euros – in fines. Spanish media referred to Charrington as “el narco de la Wikipedia” as he updated his own Wikipedia page with detailed information about his international criminal career.
When Charrington was arrested in 2013, Spanish police said he was one of Europe’s 10 most-wanted criminals.
He was also thought to be one of Britain’s richest. Customs officers suspected Charrington was flying to South America with Curtis Warren in the early 1990s. They met senior representatives of Colombia’s Cali Cartel, a feared cocaine export operation featured in the ‘Narcos’ Netflix TV series.
Charrington was arrested as his private plane touched down at Teesside in June 1992. When police raided his home in Nunthorpe they found 12 holdalls in his loft containing £1.7m in cash with traces of drugs.
Charrington and Warren were both charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and set for a trial at Newcastle Crown Court in 1993. The case against the two men collapsed due to Charrington’s role as a police informer.
Warren, who walked free from court, is famously rumoured to have taunted a customs officer with the words: “Now I’m off to spend my £85m share and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
He later denied he had said those words, but the boast added to his reputation for being ‘cocky’.