{"id":1771,"date":"2026-05-12T08:36:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/i-lived-a-dangerous-double-life-going-undercover-to-infiltrate-london-drug-gangs\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T08:36:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:36:38","slug":"i-lived-a-dangerous-double-life-going-undercover-to-infiltrate-london-drug-gangs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/i-lived-a-dangerous-double-life-going-undercover-to-infiltrate-london-drug-gangs\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;I lived a dangerous double life, going undercover to infiltrate London drug gangs&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_a88635\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Inside the incredible true crime story set to be a Netflix hit &#8211; &#8220;Guy&#8221; was an undercover customs officer, tasked with winning over the capital&#8217;s most notorious criminals<\/h2>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37142397\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Legends on Netflix. Pictured: Tom Burke as Guy, Jasmine Blackborow as Erin, Steve Coogan as Don, Aml Ameen as Bailey and Hayley Squires as Kate.\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_01KQ6RDZ3R6CVS8KV07MDKWVZF.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Legends on Netflix. Pictured: Tom Burke as Guy, Jasmine Blackborow as Erin, Steve Coogan as Don, Aml Ameen as Bailey and Hayley Squires as Kate.\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Legends on Netflix. Pictured: Tom Burke as Guy, Jasmine Blackborow as Erin, Steve Coogan as Don, Aml Ameen as Bailey and Hayley Squires as Kate.<cite aria-label=\"Image: Netflix, Inc.\/Sally Mais. All Rights Reserved\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Netflix, Inc.\/Sally Mais. All Rights Reserved)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Undercover customs officer &#8220;Guy Stanton&#8221; was off duty and enjoying a day out with his wife and young daughter when he spotted two members of a <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"dangerous criminal gangLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/gangs?pageNumber=5\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">dangerous criminal gang<\/a> in the carriage of the London Tube train they were riding in. He gave a quick glance at his wife Jo, who got off at the next stop with their four-year-old while he slipped back into his &#8220;legend&#8221; \u2013 the fake identity issued to undercover operatives \u2013 as a big shot London gangster to engage with the men.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">In true <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"spy thriller fashionLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/mi5\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">spy thriller fashion<\/a>, their first \u00admeeting was under the clock in Waterloo Station. &#8220;He was stockily built and immaculately dressed in a dark overcoat, suit and polished shoes and looked like a very tough but successful businessman \u2013 or a gangland boss,&#8221; reveals Peter. Guy laughs. &#8220;Tom Burke, who plays me in Legends, does look a lot like I used to look. He came to see me and really studied me and has got my mannerisms.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_4dfcff\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\"><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37045271\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/uk-news\/the-last-spy-peter-sichel-37045271\" tabindex=\"0\">Former CIA spy boss Peter Sichel tells of &#8216;lonely&#8217; job that &#8216;leads to alcoholism&#8217;<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Guy&#8217;s &#8220;Legend&#8221; was a London gangster with a brief to infiltrate the capital&#8217;s drug gangs. &#8220;They had set him up with this council flat in Tower Hamlets [in the series it is in Green Lanes, North London],&#8221; says Peter. He would get other operatives to send him postcards from South America so the gangland criminals would think he was a real drugs lord.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37142417\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37142417\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Guy Stanton, a real life Legend, in his disguise\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_15BW2026.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Guy Stanton, a real life Legend, in his disguise\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Guy Stanton, a real life Legend, in his disguise<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Guy picks up the story. &#8220;Yeah, it was a drugs flat, mattresses against the window. Horrible to live in. This little Asian guy a couple of doors down came round once and said the police had been looking for me. I gave him \u00a320 and he became my \u00adsecurity, my eyes and ears there.&#8221; Guy&#8217;s undercover role in London eventually took him all over the <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">world<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">In an extract from The Betrayer, he describes a situation on the south Caribbean island of Cura\u00e7ao where he got caught up in a gun battle and hid under a car, describing how one man&#8217;s &#8220;head exploded in a haze of red&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;People lay wounded around me,&#8221; he says. &#8220;My great fear had been that it would end like this, far from my home and family, the truth of my parallel life dying with me. I don&#8217;t get paid enough for this, I thought, as petrol began to drip on to my head.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">But he says there were other far more dangerous situations where he had a gun pointed directly at him, although none of the Beta operatives were ever killed in the field. They are dying off now though, of natural causes,&#8221; he says. &#8220;I don&#8217;t go to their funerals. I write a letter. I find them too depressing. I have had bouts of depression due to my illnesses and I had a full nervous breakdown after I left the job. But I am an optimistic person and I have had quite the adventure and quite the life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37142419\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37142419\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Guy in disguise with his car\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_9BW2026jpg.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Guy in disguise with his car\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Guy in disguise with his car<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Throughout his decade undercover, his parents, siblings and friends thought Guy worked in a quiet customs policy office. &#8220;In fact my colleagues and I were travelling the world, clandestinely and incognito,&#8221; he says. &#8220;We jetted many thousands of miles, braved stormy seas in small boats, drove into jungles and deserts, cultivating some of the most dangerous criminals on the planet. Some of them were even enjoyable company.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">One of those Guy grew to like was Pablo Escobar&#8217;s cousin Vittorio. He adds: &#8220;I was woken up at 3am in Dubai to be told he had died on the operating table and I have to say I was really sad. We had got on really well. Some of the criminals I met had great brains. They were brilliant with money and could have been highly successful legitimate businessmen \u2013 if they had wanted to.&#8221; By 2000, the Beta Projects methods were becoming known in the criminal underworld thanks to their success and having to declare so much information in court, and the group was eventually closed down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Then, just as Guy was beginning his fight against cancer, he was wrongly accused of taking a bribe. A lengthy investigation followed and Guy was finally exonerated, but the pressure took its toll on his health physically and mentally. &#8220;He was badly let down in the end, you could say he was himself betrayed,&#8221; says Peter now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;What Guy and others did stopped tons of drugs coming into the UK, broke up entire trafficking groups and saw many dangerous criminals jailed for long terms. But it only made a small dent in the amounts of illegal drugs that flow around the world. The war on drugs today is the same as ever and there are no simple answers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37142422\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37142422\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.78\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Steve Coogan as Don, Doulgas Hodge as Blake, in Legends\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_L_101_Unit_00026_RTjpeg.jpg\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Steve Coogan as Don, Doulgas Hodge as Blake, in Legends\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Steve Coogan as Don, Doulgas Hodge as Blake, in Legends<cite aria-label=\"Image: Courtesy of Netflix\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Courtesy of Netflix)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Guy is more sanguine. These days his near death battles are with cancer rather than criminals. Nevertheless, he continues to work as a private investigator, currently working for the Mauritius government investigating the smuggling of gold and rosewood, a protected timber.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">And he is enjoying watching his previous life unfold on <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/netflix\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Netflix<\/a> of course. &#8220;Neil Forsyth is a great writer,&#8221; he smiles. &#8220;What he has written is an amazing \u00adadventure story but there is a line of truth through everything in the series and it \u00adhappened to me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">*Legends is available to stream on Netflix now. The Betrayer: How An Undercover Unit. Infiltrated The Global Drug Trade, by Guy Stanton and Peter Walsh (published by Milo Books, \u00a38.99) is out now.<\/p>\n<p><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_4dfcff\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\"><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36966695\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/real-life-stories\/barlinnie-prison-scotland-drugs-deaths-36966695\" tabindex=\"0\">Horror UK prison with massive drug addiction and soaring suicides but rare hope<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/uk-news\/legends-netflix-london-drug-gangs-37142326\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inside the incredible true crime story set to be a Netflix hit &#8211; &#8220;Guy&#8221; was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778574998_1_01KQ6RDZ3R6CVS8KV07MDKWVZF.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}