A wanted man who supplied huge amounts of cocaine to Bristol has been jailed. Alex Male, 32, was arrested earlier this year in Morocco after spending four years on the run from police.
He headed two organised crime groups which dealt drugs across the south of England. Male, from Weston-super-Mare, used the encrypted messaging service Encrochat, which was used by criminals worldwide, to organise both of the conspiracies.
He used handles ‘Originaldagger’ and later ‘Ragnar.com’, a reference to his nickname among other criminals as ‘Viking’. The members of one of the groups, all from the Bristol area, were jailed for a total of 56 years in March.
Kai Williams, formerly from Coombe Dingle in Bristol, was sentenced to 18 years after pleading guilty to the conspiracy. He acted as a class A drugs broker for the crime group.
Luther Takawira, formerly from Portishead and his friends James Cox and Benjamin Fry, both formerly from Shirehampton in Bristol, all stood trial and were convicted, receiving sentences of 11 to 15 years. The court heard how Cox collected 20 kilos of cocaine on a single trip to Slough and Fry brought back 30 kilos from West Bromwich.
The drugs were then distributed to Portsmouth, Trowbridge, Bristol and Bridgwater. Male oversaw the supply of at least 130 kilos of high purity cocaine worth £4.5 million between March and June 2020. His involvement made him one of the UK’s most wanted men.
The other conspiracy involved Tom Allwood, 38, formerly from Cobham in Surrey and Danny Ashburner, 33, formerly from Chichester, West Sussex. They were jailed to 11 years and 10 years four months respectively for their roles in conspiring to produce and supply ketamine, cocaine and cannabis in May 2023.
The court heard how Ashburner produced large quantities of ketamine for Allwood to sell, making at least 50kg of the drug between March and June 2020. Confiscation Orders totalling more than £345k were made against the men.
Male arranged to buy £26,600 worth of ketamine from Allwood in April 2020 using Encrochat. In one message, he sent a picture of a 1kg block of cocaine with a quoted price of £37,500, to which Williams replied that it “looks banging”.
Male was originally arrested in June 2020 but fled abroad after being bailed. He then spent time in Spain, Portugal and Morocco whilst on the run.
In January 2022, the National Crime Agency (NCA) added him to their Most Wanted list. Male was eventually arrested in Morocco earlier this year before being arrested and extradited back to the UK.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply ketamine and money laundering at Exeter Crown Court on September 13. He was jailed for a total of 18 years.
Male also pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to acquire a firearm and ammunition. Those offences will lie on file.
Male was a “serious criminal”
Detective Inspector Adrian Hawkins, who led the SWROCU investigation, said: “The volume of drugs we evidenced Alex Male as sourcing and supplying through our investigation, together with his actions while on the run over the last four years, show what a serious criminal he is.
“It’s easy to look at images of kilo blocks of cocaine or piles of cash and be detached from the misery behind them – people that have been victims of robbery, burglary, theft, gang crime or other violence will know that drugs featured heavily in the cause.
“Alex Male’s time on the run has meant we’ve waited a long time to see him get sentenced, but we, together with our partners in the NCA, CPS and abroad, were never going to give up on bringing him back to face justice.”
Male went to “extreme lengths” to avoid police
David Hucker, NCA International Regional Head of Operations, who led the efforts to track down and extradite Male, said: “Alex Male went to extreme lengths to try and evade capture but he didn’t count on the determination of the NCA officers seeking him out. We worked with police in the UK and Morocco, together ensuring he could be brought to account for drug trafficking, a crime that fuels violence and exploitation in communities nationwide.
“Anyone who is on the run or thinking about attempting to flee UK justice should reflect on Male’s case, which demonstrates the NCA’s international reach and our determination to apprehend fugitives, however long it takes.”
Male sold drugs on a “commercial scale”
Andrew Pritchard of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Alex Male was a regional distributor of cocaine, coordinating the sale and distribution of drugs on a commercial scale. He dealt in kilograms of cocaine at a time, with hundreds of thousands of pounds of profits being generated over very short periods of time.
“An illegal operation of this scale is reliant on the use of electronic communications, and the recovery and analysis of these was key in building the prosecution’s case against Male and his co-conspirators.
“The illegal drugs trade affects communities across the South West, and the Crown Prosecution Service will continue to work closely with our partners in the police, NCA and SWROCU to bring those involved to justice and end the damage they cause in our communities.”