Two London dealers jailed after sending an addict to reclaim a seized phone in failed Swansea police stunt

Two hapless drug dealers from East London have been jailed after a ludicrous attempt to reclaim a seized burner phone from a police station spectacularly backfired.

Mustafa Daud, 43, and Osman Ishmail, 39, were caught peddling heroin and crack cocaine in Swansea as part of a cross-country supply operation. But their downfall came not from a complex investigation—but from a comically inept cover-up attempt involving a desperate drug addict and a seized Nokia phone.

The farcical saga began when officers at Swansea Central police station confiscated a crucial burner phone linked to the duo’s drug network. The phone contained key evidence of their Class A operations—coded texts, contacts and transaction details that could seal their fate in court.

Instead of accepting the loss, Daud and Ishmail hatched a shambolic plan. They dispatched a drug-addicted associate into the very police station that had seized the phone, instructing him to pretend it was his and claim it back. According to court testimony, the pair believed the addict’s claim might dupe police into returning the device—despite it being logged as evidence in an ongoing investigation.

Unsurprisingly, officers saw straight through the weak ruse. The man’s story unravelled almost immediately under routine questioning, and police promptly linked the failed attempt to the two London-based dealers.

In court, prosecutors revealed that the burner phone played a key role in exposing the pair’s operation. The device was used to orchestrate deliveries, manage orders and communicate with other gang members. The desperate effort to retrieve it only highlighted how central it was to their criminal enterprise.

Daud, of Cunningham Avenue, Silvertown, and Ishmail, whose address was not disclosed, had already pleaded guilty to charges relating to the supply of heroin and cocaine. They admitted to flooding Swansea with drugs while exploiting the vulnerable to do their dirty work.

Judge Paul Thomas KC labelled the plot “pitifully desperate” and noted that the attempt to manipulate police demonstrated both their arrogance and their underestimation of law enforcement. He added, “This wasn’t just foolish—it was a clumsy and dangerous abuse of a vulnerable person for personal gain.”

Daud received a prison sentence of 72 months, while Ishmail was handed 67 months—both sentences reduced due to early guilty pleas. Their arrest and sentencing bring another chapter to an end in the ongoing battle against county lines drug networks exploiting regional communities across Britain.

Outside court, locals expressed disgust and disbelief. “They thought they could outsmart the police with a half-baked plan like that?” said one Swansea resident. “It just shows how these people see addicts—as pawns to be used and discarded.”

South Wales Police confirmed that the phone had provided invaluable evidence. “The information retrieved from that device helped dismantle an operation that was causing real harm in our city,” a spokesperson said. “These dealers were ruthless and manipulative. Thankfully, their own stupidity helped bring them down.”

The case has once again thrown a spotlight on how criminal gangs exploit addiction, poverty and desperation—not only to sell drugs but to attempt to escape justice. For Daud and Ishmail, their last-ditch bid to retrieve a phone ended not with a victory—but a humiliating prison sentence.