Drugs and firearms gang boss Leon Cullen pleads guilty

Formerly Warrington’s most wanted man before his capture last year, Cullen was brought before Liverpool Crown Court this afternoon, Friday.

And the 33-year-old admitted all four charges faced – namely conspiracy to supply firearms, conspiracy to possess firearms and ammunition and conspiracy to supply cocaine.

He will be sentenced back at the same court next month.

Cullen, formerly of Honister Avenue in Orford, spoke to confirm his identity, his date of birth and his hometown before entering his pleas.

Defence barrister Oliver Cook told the court: “In terms of the role of Leon Cullen, it’s agreed that his role was different but equivalent to that of his brother Anthony Cullen.”

Leon’s twin Anthony, of Colemere Close in Padgate, was handed 27 years behind bars in January 2019 after admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Anthony Cullen

He is scheduled to learn his sentence during a hearing on Friday, April 30, which is expected to last two to three hours.

Cullen, who appeared via video link to HMP Manchester wearing a grey jumper and a yellow sash and sporting a beard and dark hair, appeared to mishear the date and said: “Friday the 13th, unlucky that.”

Mr Cook added: “I think Mr Cullen would prefer to it be dealt with as soon as possible.”

The Cullen gang was brought down by police after a series of dawn raids in January 2018.

More than 3kg of cocaine and £205,680 of cash was seized by officers during an 18-month investigation codenamed Operation Samurai.

Illicit dealings netted the criminals up to £290,000 in profit per month as they used firearms to threaten rivals and enforce debts.

Five guns and ammunition were recovered from the loft of an address on Rylands Drive in Carrington Park when officers executed search warrants, while another was discovered in a wicker basket at the foot a bed along with bullets 'to be immediately available if needed'.

These firearms included a AK47, a pump action shotgun, automatic pistols and revolvers as well as a silencer.

The ring also dealt the class A drug and cannabis in Winsford and Bangor, and is believed to have had links with the north east.

Members of this major racket - which sat 'at or very near the top of the tree in the scale of their drug dealing' - were caged for a combined 185 years in 2019.

But Leon Cullen managed to avoid arrest – with rumours in the town over the ensuing two years placing him in locations such as Spain, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.

He was eventually detained in Dubai in January 2020 on an international arrest warrant after nearly two years on the run.

Lengthy extradition proceedings concluded last month and he was charged over the conspiracy following a joint operation by Cheshire Police’s serious and organised crime unit, the National Crime Agency, the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, Interpol and authorities in the UEA.

Over the past few years, Cullen has been linked to a series of high profile police incidents in Warrington and was namechecked in a number of major trials.

A grenade was planted outside a car parked on the driveway of a family on Cleveland Road in Orford in February 2018, allegedly on his behalf following a series of ‘tit for tat’ incidents.

This spate of crimes included the windows of Cullen’s home being bricked and his BMW being torched outside, following an arson attack on Smithy’s Gym in Bewsey.

In September 2019, his accomplices are said to have fired shots at the windows and front door of a house in Bolton before attempting to frame a rival.

The Luger pistol used in the shooting and a quantity of cocaine were planted in the car of a man who Cullen was in a dispute with after they had both been romantically involved with the same woman, and an anonymous tip-off was made to police.

Most recently, associates of his – including his dad – were targeted in a gangland shooting plot which saw an innocent man gunned down on his own doorstep on Poplars Avenue in Orford by an assailant posing as a pizza delivery driver.

He suffered life-changing injuries during the incident in April last year.