The head of a Cardiff organised crime group has been jailed for 12 years after six years on the run, caught travelling through South America with false documents. Khalid Ege, 50, had fled Wales as police closed in on his cocaine dealing empire, which saw him splashing out on VIP treatment at a posh London bar and tickets to an Anthony Joshua boxing match at the O2 Arena to impress underworld contacts.
Arrest and sentencing
Ege was arrested crossing the border between Colombia and Paraguay and brought back to Wales to face justice. He had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. At Merthyr Crown Court, prosecutor Kevin Jones said Ege was the last person sentenced as a result of a complex police investigation into large-scale trafficking of Class A drugs into southern Wales.
The supply network involved multiple organised crime groups (OCGs) across the UK working together as a "drug consortium" for the large-scale, commercial supply of cocaine. Ege headed the south Wales OCG, sourcing multiple kilos of high-purity cocaine from "upstream suppliers" in Liverpool and the Midlands for distribution throughout the valleys.
Scale of the operation
When Ege's courier was intercepted returning to Cardiff, he was found with five kilos of cocaine worth up to half a million pounds on the streets. That journey was one of eight the courier had made at Ege's behest. Members of the Liverpool OCG were linked to a drugs laboratory in Birkenhead, sourcing equipment and cutting agents from China to process and adulterate drugs before distribution, including to south Wales.
Operation Vermont, the police investigation, included covert surveillance and vehicle tracking, revealing face-to-face meetings, phone contact, financial links, and DNA and fingerprint evidence linking conspirators to drug packages. Covert officers were present in London in October 2019 when Ege hosted an "extravagant" meeting with Liverpool gang heads, including VIP hospitality at a Mayfair bar and Anthony Joshua fight tickets costing £1,400 each. The purpose was to show he "was able to swim in the same waters" as his powerful contacts.
Flight and capture
Following arrests of co-conspirators, Ege fled the UK in December 2019. He remained a fugitive until December 2025, when he was detained crossing from Colombia into Paraguay with a false passport and identity documents. Crucially, he also carried his real, albeit expired, British passport, revealing his true identity. He was sent back to Colombia, then transferred to Spain in National Crime Agency custody, and extradited to the UK.
Jonathan Rees KC, for Ege, argued a distinction between the "astronomical" amounts handled by the Liverpool gang and his client's role as a "local distributor". He said if Liverpool were "Premier League", Ege was "Championship at best, if not League One".
Judge's remarks and sentence
Judge Jeremy Jenkins said Ege was involved in sourcing cocaine on an "industrial scale" for distribution around south Wales, including to another OCG in Merthyr. He noted Ege fled and was caught in South America using "false papers", but "fortunately for the authorities", he also carried his real British passport. With a one-third discount for guilty pleas, Ege was sentenced to 12 years. He will serve half in custody before release on licence.
Judge Jenkins praised police dedication in a "monumental case". Detective inspector Andrew Gibbins of Tarian, the southern Wales serious and organised crime squad, said: "Operation Vermont has been one of the largest and most complex investigations into the supply of illicit drugs ever undertaken by Tarian. The investigation resulted in the arrest and conviction of a significant number of individuals operating across Wales, England and Scotland, and involved extensive collaboration with policing and law enforcement partners both within the UK and overseas. This included two extraditions from Spain and international enquiries spanning China and South America."
"Today's sentence marks the conclusion of a lengthy investigation and demonstrates our determination to pursue those involved in organised criminality, no matter how far they travel or how long they seek to evade justice. Tarian remains committed to identifying, disrupting and bringing to justice those responsible for causing harm to our communities. Whether you are directing an organised crime group, supplying drugs, producing them, transporting them, or carrying out any other role within a criminal network, we will pursue every available line of enquiry to hold you accountable for your actions. The significant sentences handed down throughout Operation Vermont reflect the scale of the criminality involved and our unwavering commitment to protecting communities across southern Wales."
A total of 32 co-conspirators have previously been sentenced as part of Operation Vermont, with sentencings between November 2022 and April 2023, receiving combined custodial sentences totalling more than 256 years.
