Born in a London taxi in 1958, Charles Staunton emigrated to Sydney with his family in 1965. He joined NSW Police in 1978 but was drummed out in 1987 after refusing to 'grass' on colleagues. Charles built a career as a private investigator and Mr Fix-It in Sydney and then a globetrotting money smuggler for the Pacific Mariner Cartel. In 1997 in Montreal Charles was arrested by the DEA for trafficking 25 tonnes of hashish worth over one billion dollars. He served three and a half years in a supermax prison before moving to London. He has two sons, four grandchildren and lives in London.