Overview
- Ritesh Patel, 43, received a 20‑year prison term for conspiring to supply cocaine and heroin, with the sentence handed down on March 16 after his extradition from Thailand.
- Prosecutors built the case using EncroChat messages, an encrypted phone network that police accessed and used to trace how orders and cash drops moved through South Wales.
- Investigators said the group used taxis, commercial vehicles, and vans branded as NHS patient transport to move drugs and money while trying to avoid checks during Covid lockdowns.
- Patel set up a front company called Mr Recovery and used a recovery truck and other vehicles with hidden compartments, plus safe houses in Cardiff Bay, Radyr, Newport, and Liverpool to store and count cash.
- Thai authorities arrested Patel in June 2022 over a fake passport, a Thai court approved extradition in August 2025, and UK agencies including Tarian ROCU, the NCA, and the CPS coordinated his return in October 2025 to face charges.