Jail for Hucknall man who was a member of gun-toting drugs gang

Two members of a gun-toting drugs gang, one of whom used to live in Hucknall, have been jailed thanks to a major police investigation sparked by a series of tit-for-tat shootings.

Kiefer Smith, 28, formerly of Dallman Close, Hucknall, and Alexsandro Woolery also 28, formerly of Portland Road, Carlton, were part of a gang that sold vast quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin on the streets of Nottingham, Mansfield, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Sutton-in-Ashfield and other areas of the county.

The gang, whose members spent large sums of money on designer clothing and jewellery, came to police attention after a series of linked shootings in early 2019.

In one incident in May 2019 a member of a rival criminal gang was shot in the neck as gang leader and aspiring drill music star Akeem Chand fired multiple shots into his car as it travelled along a residential street in the early evening.

Chand and four other men were jailed in October for a total of more than 80 years for their part in the conspiracy, which was exposed in part by a covert listening device placed in a car used by the gang.

Just months before they were arrested, members of the gang enjoyed a luxury break to Mexico's Caribbean coast, where they stayed in a private villa and even hired a motor yacht.

Both locations were used to film a professionally produced drill music video which was later published on the internet. In it the men bragged about the amount of money they were making from their illegal activities.

Woolery and Smith were convicted by a jury of two charges – 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.

Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday 22 December) the pair were sentenced.

Kiefer Smith was jailed for 17 years whilst Alexsandro Woolery was jailed for 22 years and will have to spend a further five years on extended licence,

Detective Chief Inspector Richard Bull, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "Woolery and Smith were part of an extremely dangerous gang whose members thought nothing of firing lethal weapons in the street. At the time of their arrest the gang's behaviour was becoming more and more extreme and it really was a matter of good fortune that nobody was killed or seriously injured during these incidents.

"The men were making very large sums of money as a result of their offending, but ultimately fell into the same trap as other organised criminals. The more they had the more they stood to lose to rival gangs. This paranoia led them to participate in the utterly brazen acts of violence that ultimately led to their downfall.

"I would like to repeat my thanks to the witnesses that came forward and also extend my thanks to all the detectives who worked so hard on this case. Locking up a gang like this takes hundreds of hours of meticulous police work and everybody involved should be very proud of what they achieved here.

"Finally, I hope this case serves as a warning to other violent criminals: if you discharge firearms on our streets we will deploy whatever resources are necessary to find you, prosecute you and put you behind bars."