A MAN who tried to escape justice by going on the run to Spain, Portugal and Morocco has finally been sentenced to 18 years behind bars.

Alex Male, 32, from Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, was sentenced at Exeter Crown Court after pleading guilty to heading up two conspiracies to supply cocaine and ketamine across the south of England and laundering the money he made.

Male was originally arrested in June 2020 as part of a South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) investigation into class A drugs supply. His arrest was part of Operation Venetic, the UK response to the takedown of encrypted messaging service Encrochat, which was used by criminals worldwide.

Using the Encrochat handles ‘Originaldagger’ and later ‘Ragnar.com’, a reference to his nickname among other criminals as ‘Viking’, Male organised two conspiracies.

The first involved Tom Allwood, 38, formerly from Cobham in Surrey and Danny Ashburner, 33, formerly from Chichester, West Sussex, who were sentenced in May 2023 to 11 years and 10 years four months respectively for their roles in conspiring to produce and supply ketamine, cocaine and cannabis.

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 £345,000 were made against the men.

Communicating on Encrochat, Male arranged to buy £26,600 worth of ketamine from Allwood in April 2020.

Male also headed up a separate organised crime group who were all jailed in March this year for a total of 56 years for their roles as dealers, drugs and money couriers for Male.

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.

In one Encrochat exchange, Male sent Williams a photo of a 1kg block of cocaine with a quoted price of £37,500. Willams replied to Male that it “looks banging”.

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 jury heard how Cox collected 20kg of cocaine on a single trip to Slough and Fry brought back 30kg from West Bromwich. The drugs were then delivered throughout our region, including to Portsmouth, Trowbridge, Bristol and Bridgwater.

In total, Male oversaw the supply of at least 130kg of high purity cocaine worth £4.5 million between March and June 2020.

Male was released on bail following his arrest in June 2020 but breached his conditions and fled abroad. He was added to the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) Most Wanted list in January 2022.

Earlier this year Male was arrested in Morocco, detained, and extradited back to the UK in August.

He had previously been arrested in Turkey after trying to enter the country from Portugal.

Male pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply ketamine and money laundering at Exeter Crown Court on September 13.

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.

“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.”