Calvin Parris was detained by PJ police near Boliqueime in the Algarve
Calvin Parris, one of the UK’s most wanted men, was arrested in the Algarve this month by Portugal’s PJ police and returned to Wales after four years on the run.
Parris, 34, was detained on October 3 near the Algarve town of Boliqueime, in the municipality of Loulé, according to a statement by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
“Officers from the NCA’s Joint International Crime Centre (JICC) escorted him back to the UK on October 15 and he was taken into custody by South Wales Police,” the statement says.
Parris, who is accused of a conspiracy to supply cocaine, was named as one of the NCA’s most wanted fugitives after going on the run in November 2020. He appeared at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court last week (October 16) and was remanded into custody until his next appearance at Cardiff Crown Court in November.
“The arrest of Calvin Parris highlights our commitment to tracing those accused of serious criminality and returning them to the UK to face charges,” said Neil Keeping, NCA International Regional Manager.
“It should also serve as a warning to other fugitives on the run – no matter how you try and evade law enforcement, we will always catch up with you,” Keeping added.
He also thanked Portugal’s PJ police who “worked tirelessly to locate and detain Parris,” and “our officers for bringing him back into the custody of South Wales Police.”
In the same statement, Detective Sergeant Ceri Young of South Wales Police explained that “Calvin Parris is believed to have left the UK on or before November 29, 2020, following the arrest of several co-conspirators. He never returned and a joint operation involving South Wales Police, the NCA and other European law enforcement agencies was launched in order to trace and arrest him. A European Arrest Warrant was issued for his arrest on December 22, 2020.”
The detective added that Parris is accused of “being the final 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 ‘EncroChat’ platform.”
“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,” he added.
