Police snagged a gang in Birmingham(Image: West Midlands Police)

Dramatic moment armed police swoop on gang's gun deal on residential street

West Midlands Police dashed to nick Dillon Cordova, Furrukh Khan, Ishmail Kaseba and a 17-year-old boy in Selly Oak, Birmingham, as they were about to swap the handgun for two stolen cars

by · The Mirror

Dramatic footage shows armed police smash a gang selling a gun in a deal arranged by a murderer from his prison cell.

Three men and a teenage boy, aged 17, from Birmingham were about to swap the handgun for two stolen cars with a criminal from London. Police, though, got wind of the meeting and swooped on the gang as they waited in a Ford Fiesta in Selly Oak, Birmingham, on August 9 last year.

The raid, which was part of Operation Target, resulted in four men and one teen being jailed. In the back of the Fiesta was a blank firing gun which had been converted into a live-firing weapon, and ten live rounds of ammunition.

In the Fiesta were Dillon Cordova, 18, Furrukh Khan, 25, Ishmail Kaseba, 24, and a boy who is now 17. London-based gang member Drew Neale, 21, was arrested while he waited in a nearby road.

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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, for which he is serving for murder.

Ishmail Kaseba was jailed for eight-and-a-half years( Image: West Midlands Police)
Teeko Le was caged for six years after he was found guilty of conspiracy to sell the gun and ammunition( Image: West Midlands Police)

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, from Perry Barr, 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.

Furrukh Khan will serve seven years and seven months( Image: West Midlands Police)
Dillon Cordova was convicted at trial earlier this year but failed to appear for sentencing( Image: West Midlands Police)

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 boy, 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.

Drew Neale was sentenced to six years and eight months( Image: West Midlands Police)
West Midlands Police released the footage to the media on Monday

Detective Inspector 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."