A drugs kingpin who fled to Thailand and lived in a luxury villa on Phuket has been jailed for 14 years for leading a multi-million-pound cocaine ring. Ben Ransome, 29, was the leader of a gang that moved 200kg of cocaine in less than two months in early 2022, along with supplying £175,000 of ketamine.
The wholesale value of the cocaine was £38,000 per kilo, totalling £7.6 million, but street values could reach around £100,000 per kilo. Ransome fled to Thailand in March 2022 as police closed in, but continued to direct couriers across the country supplying 'commercial amounts' of drugs.
While on the run, Ransome reinvented himself as a prizefighter under the name 'Billy Roberts'. He spent nearly a year at Central Bangkok Prison, known as the 'Bangkok Hilton', before being extradited to the UK. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and ketamine, conspiracy to possess criminal property, and supplying cocaine.
Detective Inspector Yoni Adler said: 'Ransome tried to turn a substantial profit by running a criminal enterprise that spanned across the southeast of England. This vast supply in illegal substances doubtless fuelled extensive violence, threats and the use of weapons.'
Essex Police seized more than £1 million in cash, nearly 50kg of cocaine worth £1.8 million wholesale, and 20 firearms during the investigation. Ransome's associates, including his second-in-command Russell Dendle, have all been handed significant prison sentences totalling 85 years.
