A drug-dealing drill rapper was caught on camera blasting a rival gang member in the neck during a drive-by shooting in broad daylight.
Akeem Chand, an aspiring rapper also known by the name Brutz, was among a gang of gun-toting thugs who were caught boasting of their wealth in music videos while “living like footballers”
A court heard how Chand, 27, flaunted his illegal earnings with increasingly lavish videos which helped incriminate him and his gangster pals.
The footage sees him bragging about their drug -funded wealth, posing with jewellery and boasting about how they needed a “Money Counter” to count their profits.
Chand was arrested by police following a spate of shootings across the Nottingham area, which took place in late 2018 and early 2019.
During one shooting, which was caught on camera, a rival gangster was shot in the neck as Chand fired multiple shots into his car while it travelled along a residential street.
Just moments before, he and fellow gang member Quarnell Simpson, 24, had set up a hastily arranged ambush in Brindley Road, Bilborough, Nottingham.
Footage captured on CCTV cameras showed Chand running along the road after getting out of a car driven by Simpson.
Simpson then backed away – luring the victim towards a waiting Chand who then pounced and fired a.44 calibre revolver at close quarters into the car.
He discharged two more shots as his victim sped from the scene in panic, putting members of the public in danger.
Unbeknown to Chand, the attack on May 9, 2019 had been captured on the victim’s dash-cam – giving police a detailed account of what had happened.
Detectives later found Chand was the leader of a gang that sold vast quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin across Nottinghamshire.
They discovered the crooks were “living like footballers or music stars” splashing cash on expensive jewellery, designer clothes, holidays and the production of music videos.
Several members of the gang even flew to Mexico’s Caribbean coast where they stayed in a lavishly appointed private villa and even hired a luxury motor yacht.
Both spots were used as locations for a slick music video recorded on the trip, which eventually led to their downfall.
Another music video – published on YouTube – showed members of the gang filming around a block of flats they used as a safe house for storing drugs and guns.
Detectives were further helped by high-definition aerial drone footage which directed them to the location.
The gang became the subject of a covert police operation and listening devices planted in a car caught them openly discussing the sale of drugs and shooting rivals.
Chand and six other Nottingham men were last month convicted of a string of drugs and weapons offences following a 15 week trial at Nottingham Crown Court.
They were found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life and conspiracy to possess ammunition without a certificate.
Each of them had previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply class A and class B drugs.
Chand, of Aspley, was jailed for life on Monday with a minimum of 20 years.
Orlando Escoffery, 26, of Basford, was jailed for 23 years while Quarnell Simpson, 24, of Aspley, and Devante Neufville, 24, of no fixed address, were jailed for 20 years.
Alexsandro Woolery, 27, of Carlton, and Kiefer Smith, 28, of Hucknall, will be sentenced at a later date for the same offences.
Ravan Mather-Simpson, 25, of Sherwood, pleaded guilty before the trial to conspiracy to supply class A and class B drugs.
He was sentenced to nine years and was also jailed for a further 16 months for a separate incident of affray.
Sarah Aplin, 27, of Bestwood, had previously admitted allowing a premises to be used for the supply of controlled drugs and was subsequently jailed for two years and three months.
Zak Charles, now aged 19, was found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life and conspiracy to possess ammunition without a certificate.
Charles, of Bulwell, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in a young offenders’ institution.
Detective Chief Inspector Richard Bull, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “As this footage makes clear, these men were extremely dangerous.
“Led by Chand, they had built up an extremely profitable drugs empire and were very clearly willing to use potentially lethal violence to protect it from people they saw as rivals.
“Discharging a firearm in a residential street was an act of staggering recklessness that showed a callous disregard for the safety of local residents,” he added. “It was only a matter of good fortune that nobody was killed or seriously injured in this attack.
“Ultimately it was this ready use of violence that led to this gang’s undoing.
“Shooting incidents are both incredibly rare and extremely serious, so when they do happen we dedicate whatever resources we deem necessary to finding the people responsible and taking their weapons off the streets.
Charles, of Bulwell, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in a young offenders’ institution.
Detective Chief Inspector Richard Bull, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “As this footage makes clear, these men were extremely dangerous.
“Led by Chand, they had built up an extremely profitable drugs empire and were very clearly willing to use potentially lethal violence to protect it from people they saw as rivals.
“Discharging a firearm in a residential street was an act of staggering recklessness that showed a callous disregard for the safety of local residents,” he added. “It was only a matter of good fortune that nobody was killed or seriously injured in this attack.
“Ultimately it was this ready use of violence that led to this gang’s undoing.
“Shooting incidents are both incredibly rare and extremely serious, so when they do happen we dedicate whatever resources we deem necessary to finding the people responsible and taking their weapons off the streets.
