A convicted drug dealer from Warrington, who was arrested with more than £5,000 cash in a hold-all bag, breaching a serious crime prevention order, told police: “Who do you think I am, Pablo Escobar?” the notorious Colombian drug lord.
He had been arrested just eight weeks after being released from a 10-year sentence imposed in 2020 for supplying crack cocaine and heroin to inmates in HMP Styal.
Anton Daniels was jailed for 12 months at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday, 13 January, after pleading guilty to four counts of failing to comply with a crime prevention order and the possession of criminal property at an earlier hearing.
He had previously been jailed for 10 years in 2020 for supplying crack cocaine and heroin to inmates in HMP Styal.
During his hearing at Chester Crown Court was told that Daniels, of Walker Court in Bewsey and Whitecross, had been released from prison in October 2024 and had a three-year Serious Crime Prevention Order imposed against him.
Under this order, the 41-year-old was required not to be in possession of more than £1000 in cash and to only own one mobile phone at any time, with any additional devices needing to be registered to Cheshire Police.
Only two months later, on Sunday, 8 December, Daniels was arrested for an unrelated matter.
Whilst detained by officers, Daniels told them that in his hold-all bag was over £5230. Further to this, it was uncovered that he had also failed to register an additional mobile device and a smart watch, which was another breach of the order imposed against him.
After being taken into custody, Daniels was asked as why he had been in possession of an unregistered device and smart watch, to which he said to officers, “Who do you think I am, Pablo Escobar? I have only been out (of prison) eight weeks.”
When asked about the large quantity of cash on his person, he remained silent and gave no answers.
Despite this, he would be charged and eventually plead guilty to the breaches in court.
Detective Constable Kelsie Sherratt, of CID Reactive North said: “No law-abiding individual goes about their daily business with over £5000 in cash on their person and, paired with the fact he had several devices in his possession that he chose not to register with police, it was clear to us that Mr Daniels had not learnt his lesson after being released from prison only eight weeks earlier.
“Orders such as those imposed on Anton Daniels are put in place to prevent any potential reoffending from occurring and we treat any and all breaches with the utmost seriousness.
“We will always look to prosecute anyone found to be in breach of their imposed orders, like Daniels, with the full extent of the law.
“If you have any information or suspicions about anyone believed to be in breach of a police or court order in your area, you can contact Cheshire Police via the website or call 101, and we will take it from there.”
Information can also be passed on to the force anonymously via Crimestoppers, who can be contacted on 0800 555 111.
