Alex Male was detained at Lisbon Airport on Saturday (30 April) having just arrived on a flight from Turkey, where he had been refused entry a few hours earlier after Turkish border police noticed the document. Male, of Weston-super-Mare, was added to the NCA’s Most Wanted appeal in January after he went on the run following his arrest by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SW ROCU) as part of Operation Venetic. He is believed to have used encrypted communications platform EncroChat to distribute class A drugs across the South West. He is also accused of money laundering and conspiring to acquire a firearm as part of his drug dealing activity, and was previously on the run in the Marbella area of Spain before moving to Portugal. Any arrest of a fugitive is a fantastic result, even more so since Male had only recently been added to our most wanted list. He is wanted in connection with dangerous crimes, which have a devastating impact on communities. Anyone with information about one of the Most Wanted is urged to call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
