Liam O’Brien was one of two men arrested in Medellín this week
Natalia Penza, Patrick Edrich and Liam Thorp Political Editor
10:29, 15 Nov 2025
Liam O’Brien from Liverpool was arrested in Columbia
A Liverpool man arrested in Colombia as part of an investigation into the international supply of Class A drugs and guns has been pictured by police in the South American country. The National Crime Agency (NCA) has confirmed that 41-year-old Liam O’Brien, formerly of Leyfield Road in West Derby, was one of two British men arrested in Colombia.
O’Brien and Robert Taylor, 54 and of Exeter Road in Wallsend, were arrested at a property in Medellín, Colombia’s second-largest city and commonly known for being a one-time stronghold for narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar, on Wednesday. The men remain in custody and extradition proceedings will soon commence.
The two suspects’ faces were revealed late on Friday by Colombian police as well as further footage showing the men being tailed by police in Medellín, before they were arrested and frogmarched into custody.
The NCA said Taylor, 54, was wanted by Northumbria Police after he was sentenced in his absence in February 2024 to seven and a half years in prison for drugs offences and money laundering.
O’Brien, formerly of Leyfield Road in West Derby, 41, is accused of conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin, MDMA and cannabis, conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life, conspiracy to transfer a prohibited weapon as well as money laundering and perverting the course of justice.
Both men are now facing extradition to the UK.
Columbian Police raid a house to arrest two British men
The new footage released by Colombian police showed the two men looking relaxed and shirtless in the street as they walked in front of the home they were reportedly hiding out in before their arrests.
In another of the surveillance videos, a man believed to be the older of the two fugitives was filmed riding a powerful motorbike without a crash helmet or top on. He appeared to wave to someone as he got off the bike.
The video footage also showed the huge scale of the police operation to arrest the two men, with heavily-armed officers carrying assault rifles getting into the back of a lorry that took them to the location.
Both men were then put on a plane, believed to have taken them to the Colombian capital Bogota after being led away in handcuffs.
It has been reported that the two men were arrested by a specialist anti-narco police unit.
Colombian police Brigadier General William Oswaldo Rincón Zambrano posted on X on Wednesday: “In Medellín, Policia Colombia, in coordination with Interpol, managed to detain two British citizens for extradition purposes, allegedly members of a transnational drug trafficking network, wanted by the authorities of England for the crimes of drug trafficking, arms trafficking, money laundering, and acting as front persons.”
Robert Taylor has been arrested by Columbian Police and will be extradited to the UK
Rick Jones, NCA deputy director of International, said: “We’re immensely grateful to Colombia’s National Police for their work to help trace and locate these men and take them into custody.
“These arrests continue to show the NCA’s global reach, its close partnerships with both UK and international police forces and our unwavering determination to ensure UK fugitives are returned to face justice.
“Other fugitives should do the right thing and hand themselves in because we will do everything possible with partners at home and abroad to find them.”
Detective Chief Inspector Marc Michael of Northumbria Police said: “Taylor’s arrest is another example of how we work with partners not just in the UK but around the world to make sure that individuals face justice.
“There are no hiding places for those involved in criminality in the North East and beyond.”
