Fugitive admits cocaine conspiracy charge after four years at large

An individual previously identified as one of the UK’s most wanted men, who spent four years evading capture, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine. Calvin Parris, 34, of Y Rhodfa, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, was apprehended in Portugal in October, having fled the country on 29 November 2020, according to prior police statements. He entered his guilty plea to the charge at a hearing conducted on Thursday at Cardiff Crown Court. Parris’s sentencing is scheduled for 14 February at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court. The National Crime Agency (NCA) had previously designated Parris as one of the UK’s 12 most wanted fugitives. Detective Sergeant Ceri Young of South Wales Police previously stated that Parris was 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”.