Mickey Green (born 1942 in

Holloway, London Holloway is an inner-city district of the London Borough of Islington, north of Charing Cross, which follows the line of the Holloway Road ( A1). At the centre of Holloway is the Nag's Head commercial area which sits between the more residentia ...

– 13 July 2020) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

and

drug lord A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin or narcotrafficker is a high-ranking crime boss who controls a sizable network of people involved in the illegal drug trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they are normally not directly ...

who had also held

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

nationality. A convicted armed robber he had allegedly been one of Britain's leading drug dealers for many years and was said to be worth at least £75 million. His surname is often spelled in newspapers as Greene.

Background

Green was the leader of the "Wembley Mob" which specialized in armed robbery in the 1970s. For a number of years he has been wanted by police in several countries around the world for suspected drug smuggling. Gangland sources have described him as a main suspect in the murders of London criminal figures Gilbert Wynter and Solly Nahome. His ability to evade arrest has led to him being nicknamed the pimpernel. He is said to have first become involved with drugs during the early 1980s shortly after his release from prison, for armed robbery. He was suspected of having a number of detectives on his payroll and of being an associate of the Adams brothers. Although owning pubs and other property in

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to ...

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and

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, he had been evading authorities for more than twenty years, operating in countries including

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and the

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where he cooperated with organized crime figures running cocaine in from Colombia until his arrest by the

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while residing in a

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mansion formerly owned by musician

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. He was later released without facing a trial.

Disappearance

In 1998, following the arrest of British drug trafficker

Michael Michael Michael Michael (born 12 November 1957) is the ex-boss of a criminal empire called the Organisation which was involved in drug smuggling, prostitution and money laundering. Following his arrest, Michael turned supergrass/police informer, with h ...

during Operation Draft, Green was one of sixty others implicated in a £150 million cocaine trafficking ring and would later be arrested by police at the Ritz hotel in

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Although held in custody for several months, he was again released and returned to his villa on the southern coast of Spain. As of 2002, he was wanted by authorities in Ireland as they suspected he tampered with a jury at a prior inquest and his assets in the Republic of Ireland were seized by the Irish

Criminal Assets Bureau The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) ( ga, An Biúró um Shócmhainní Coiriúla) is a law enforcement agency in Ireland. The CAB was established with powers to focus on the illegally acquired assets of criminals involved in serious crime. The aims ...

. As of November 2007 he was understood to be living in and around the

area, but had not yet been captured. It was reported that Green died on 13 July 2020, of skin cancer, while living on the Costa Del Sol.

References

External links

Guardian Unlimited - Britain's drug traders: Deadly cargo
by Tony Thompson {{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Mickey 1942 births 2020 deaths English gangsters Fugitives Irish gangsters