He was the Colombian cartel's main man in Europe, now he wants to open a school

View 6 Images

In his artist's studio on an industrial estate in Rochdale , Stephen Mee is remembering when his life of crime finally came crashing down.

"You think you're clever," he says. "But then the military come in with stun grenades and a helicopter lands on the roof and you're being carried out handcuffed and face down you're realise you're not clever any more."

Newton Heath-raised Mee was once one of the UK's biggest drugs traffickers.

Alongside notorious Liverpool drugs baron 'Cocky' Curtis Warren , he teamed up with the Colombian cartels to smuggle countless kilos of cocaine into Europe.

Crime made him a millionaire many times over. But it also meant he spent more than 16 years of his life behind bars in some of Europe's most notorious high-security prisons.

Never mi