Katie Price’s beau Carl Woods poses with ‘drugs-gang leader’ friend ‘The Beast’

Katie Price's boyfriend Carl Woods is reportedly close friends with a drugs-gang leader.

Carl posted a picture with Bradley Stantiford shortly before lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Stantiford spent years in prison for supplying Class-A drugs and was part of an eight-person gang operating from home in Stansted, Essex.

They were all sentenced to a total of 46 years after police had found 1.5kg of 85 per-cent purity cocaine and scales and cutting agents typically used by drug dealers, according to The Sun.

44-year-old Stantiford, commonly known as 'The Beast', is said to have smuggled large quantities of cocaine through Stansted Airport.

It is believed he was released from prison earlier this year having served half of his eight-year sentence, with the paper reporting from a source that he is now "keeping his head down and his nose clean."

They added: "Carl and Brad have known each other for a long time and are close pals."

When sharing an image of himself with Stantiford in February, Carl penned on Instagram : "Just a couple friends having a drink.

"Been a long time Mr Stantiford."

It is reported that in 2012, Stantiford was convicted of grievous bodily harm and received a five-year prison sentence.

He also reportedly received an interim violent offender order that prevented him from entering pubs and clubs in four counties in England.

After breaking the terms of his day release, Stantiford became the subject of a police manhunt that ended in his capture in the Hertfordshire village of Nazeing.

Back in 2016, Carl alluded to the belief that drug dealers get treated too harshly by the law when he shared a meme on Instagram.

The meme from hacking group Anonymous reads: "Drug dealers get more time than child molesters.

"People ask for drugs, who the f**k asks to be raped?"

Carl captioned the image: "Couldn't of put it better myself. World needs a reality check."

Former glamour model Katie Price went public with Carl as her boyfriend last month.

A representative for Katie told The Sun when asked about Carl's friendship with Stantiford: "Miss Price's current relationship with Mr Woods and his previous acquaintances is of no concern nor holds relevance to her personally."

He is currently supporting her after she sustained broken feet while holidaying in Turkey, with her having received surgery on them last week.

Katie shared an image of him at her bedside in Chelsea Westminster Hospital.

In the caption, Katie wrote: "Thankyou to @carljwoods for constantly fitting me around his work and being by my side , loving knowing I’ve found the man that has surprisingly ticked every box I could only dream of a man to be like and knowing I’m spending the rest of my life with him".

Mirror Online has contacted the representative of Katie Price for comment.

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