Britain’s “most wanted man” who was snared in Portugal after spending four years on the run, has been jailed for 12 years.
Calvin Parris, 34, who sports a full row of gold teeth giving him a metallic smile like James Bond villain Jaws, was arrested by Portuguese police near the town of Boliqueime in the Algarve on October 3 last year after disappearing in November 2020.
The Cardiff-born gangster went on the run after being accused of conspiring to supply cocaine and was named one of the most wanted fugitives by the National Crime Agency.
Last December he pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and appearing before Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Friday, Judge Jeremy Jenkins handed down the lengthy jail term.
Mr Jenkins said Parris had been part of an organised crime group that attempted to smuggle a large quantity of deadly drugs into Wales during the Coronavirus lockdown.
The gang used the encrypted EncroChat platform to arrange the purchase and delivery of drugs into the country, with the defendant using the handles “Hopeful Crown” and “Mad Dagger”.
The Judge said that after the arrests of other members of the group police officers went to Parris’ home in Ely, Cardiff, only to find him “not there”.
However he said he could not say the defendant had “absconded” from justice because he had “not been under arrest at the time of the offence.”
He said: “However one equates it, it doesn’t equate to absconding.”
Parris, who appeared in the dock wearing a white T-shirt and grey jogging bottoms, has two previous convictions in 2007 and 2015, both related to the supply of drugs, and was still under licence for the latter offence when he went missing in 2020.
But the judge said he acknowledged Parris had entered guilty pleas to the latest conspiracy charge at the first opportunity following his arrest and he was entitled to full credit – reducing his sentence from 18 years to 12.
Parris is the final member of Naveed’s organised crime group – who trafficked 46 kilos of cocaine into Wales between February and June 2020 – worth almost £8million.
Duncan Burrage, NCA International Regional Manager, said: “After naming Calvin Parris as one of our most wanted fugitives, we were relentless in our efforts to track him down and return him to Wales to face justice.
“The jail term served to Parris today wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of our Portuguese Judicial Police partners who located and arrested him in the Algarve last year.
“This case demonstrates our commitment to work closely with domestic and international law enforcement to ensure there is nowhere for UK fugitives to run and hide from justice.”
Det Sgt Ceri Young of South Wales Police added: “Calvin Parris was a member of an organised crime group involved in a complex conspiracy to traffic class A controlled drugs into South Wales utilising encrypted communications devices operating on the ‘Encro Chat’ platform.
“Parris and his co-conspirators used encrypted communications devices which operated the ‘Encro Chat’ platform to aid their offending and frustrate law enforcement.
“Organised crime and drug trafficking has a significant detrimental impact on communities and bringing offenders involved in this level of criminality to justice is a priority for South Wales Police.”
How the gang were snared:
On Wednesday May 27, 2020, Albanian national Lenci Gashi was stopped while driving a Citroen Berlingo on the M4 towards South Wales. His van was found to contain 15kg of pressed cocaine destined for members of the OCG.
On June 16, 2020, Michael Laverick, said to be the head of the South Wales based OCG, was arrested.
Between March 31 and May 27, 2020, the group took possession of 35kg cocaine and paid £696,000 to upstream suppliers via a complex network of trusted criminal associate, safe locations and criminal couriers.
Laverick was supported by his second in command Asim Naveed who was responsible for the onward distribution of cocaine once it had been received from the upstream suppliers.
Danny Attard was part of the group which received consignments of cocaine, storing them at a safe location within the wider city of Cardiff before being involved in their onward distribution.
Calvin Parris and Damian Farrugia both of Cardiff were identified as regular customers involved in the purchase of wholesale amounts of cocaine from Laverick and during the relevant dates of this conspiracy case it was deemed that Parris and Farrugia each received 7kg of cocaine respectively.
Amir Khan had been identified as a trusted customer of the group who received 6.5kg cocaine facilitated by his use of ‘Encro Chat’.
South Wales Police investigators conducted phased enforcement on members of the OCG executing multiple search warrants on several addresses in the South Wales area.
These warrants resulted in arrests of members of the group coupled with the recovery of relevant evidence including cash, communications devices and high-value clothing and goods demonstrating financial gains of the group.
Asim Naveed and Calvin Parris were not found during the initial enforcement phase and were later found to have fled the United Kingdom for Portugal.
South Wales Police investigators worked closely with the National Crime Agency to share information and intelligence which led to their arrest in Portugal in June and October 2024 respectively.
Earlier sentences handed down to members of the OCG:
Amir Khan – 20 years 7 months
Michael Laverick – 18 years
Danny Attard – 14 years
Damian Farrugia – 13 years
Lenci Gashi – 11 years 4 months
Asim Naveed – 10 years 8 months