"Serious criminal" from North Somerset jailed for 18 years
Alex Male from Weston Super Mare led an organised crime group distributing cocaine and ketamine across the South of England
A man from North Somerset who led an organised crime group supplying drugs across the South of England and who was once considered one of the UK's most wanted men, is beginning an 18-year jail term.
Alex Male (32), from Weston Super Mare, was sentenced today (2nd December) at Exeter Crown Court after pleading guilty to money laundering as well as conspiracy to supply cocaine and ketamine.
Male was originally arrested in June 2020 after officials managed to hack the encrypted messaging service Encrochat, which was used by criminals around the world.
Prosecutors say using handles on the service ‘Originaldagger’ and later ‘Ragnar.com’, which was a reference to his nickname among other criminals as ‘Viking’, Male organised two conspiracies.
The first involved 38-year-old Tom Allwood 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 £345k were made against the men.
Communicating on Encrochat, Male arranged to buy £26,600 worth of ketamine from Allwood in April 2020.
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”.
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.
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 jury 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 delivered throughout our region, including to Portsmouth, Trowbridge, Bristol and Bridgwater.
In total, Male oversaw the supply of at least 130 kilos of high purity cocaine worth £4.5 million between March and June 2020.
Following Male's original arrest in June 2020 he was released on bail and disappeared. He was added to the National Crime Agency's Most Wanted list in January 2022.
He was arrested in Morocco earlier this year and brought back to the UK in August, having previously been arrested in Turkey after trying to enter the country from Portugal.
Detective Inspector Adrian Hawkins, who led the South West Region Organised Crime Unit (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.”
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.”
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.”
Male pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to acquire a firearm and ammunition. Those offences will lie on file.