Brian Wright is one of Britain's least known high profile gangsters.

The 54-year-old has been on the run from the police since being linked to a multi-million pound cocaine smuggling operation which was smashed in 1996.

He has been served with an international arrest warrant, but was last spotted living in exile in northern Cyprus - a country which has no extradition treaty with the UK.

But while Wright is still at large, 15 members of the cocaine smuggling operation have already been jailed in a series of trials in the UK and abroad.

Heavy gambler

Customs and Excise allege that Mr Wright was the principal financier and organiser of a drug gang which brought at least �360m worth of cocaine into Britain.

Wright, who is also known as 'The Milkman' because he always delivers, first came into contact with the horse racing industry in the 1970s.

He was a heavy gambler and kept company with other gangsters like Charlie Wilson and Roy Adkins - both of whom have been shot dead.

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Wright has kept company with the likes of comedian Jim Davidson in the 1980s, and even had a stake in one of his horses.

He has been named by Dermot Browne as the man who was behind an operation to dope horses, former jockey Jamie Osborne also claimed he turned down an offer on behalf of Wright to throw a race.

He used to be a regular sight at the races and has even hosted parties and golfing weekends for some of the game's top names.