Police swoop on gang selling gun in deal masterminded from prison

This is the dramatic moment armed police officers swooped on a gang selling a gun in a deal masterminded by a murderer from behind bars.

Three men and 17-year-old boy, from Birmingham, were about to exchange the handgun for two stolen cars with a criminal from London when they were intercepted by officers on August 9 last year.

Detectives caught wind of the meeting and descended on the gang while they were parked up in a Ford Fiesta in Selly Oak, a residential area of south-west Birmingham which is home to thousands of students in the city. 

The raid, carried out as part of Operation Target, resulted in four men and one teen being jailed.

Police searched the vehicle and found a blank firing gun on the back seat which had been converted into a live-firing weapon. They also discovered ten live rounds of ammunition.

Dillon Cordova, 18, Furrukh Khan, 25, Ishmail Kaseba, 24, and a boy who is now 17, were all in the Ford Fiesta.

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London-based gang member Drew Neale, 21, was arrested while he waited in a nearby road.

Detectives discovered convicted murderer Teeko Le, 21, had masterminded the deal from prison using a smuggled mobile phone.

The gang were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday.

Le, of no fixed address, was jailed for six years after he was found guilty of conspiracy to sell the gun and ammunition.

It will start at the end of the minimum 20-year term which he is serving for murder.

Le was aged 17 when he shot Naasir Francis, 22, after a confrontation in the Lozells area of Birmingham in August 2020.

Mr Francis was unarmed and tried to get away, but was killed by Le who used an automatic pistol - possibly a Glock weapon - in broad daylight.

Kaseba, of no fixed address, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years after being found guilty of the same offences.

Khan, of Rocky Lane, Birmingham, was jailed for seven years and seven months for the same offences, and also possession of a shotgun which was found at his home.

Neale, of no fixed address, was jailed for six years and eight months for being involved in the sale of the gun and ammunition, and handling stolen goods.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sent to a young offenders institution for three years for firearms and ammunition sale offences.

Cordova was convicted at trial earlier this year but failed to appear for sentencing and is being hunted by police.

Detective Insp Amar Patel, from the Regional Organised Crime Unit for the West Midlands, said: 'Had we not intervened when we did, this gun would have been handed over and been used in further criminality - to threaten or harm others.

'The gun had DNA of Khan and Cordova on it, along with that of the 17-year-old.

'We will relentlessly pursue those involved in gun crime in the West Midlands, and ensure they are brought to justice.'