A convicted drug dealer and drill music artist has been sent back to prison after a converted firearm was discovered inside a coat he brought to a probation appointment in Essex. Noble Nwokocha, 24, was arrested after Essex Police officers found a converted blank-firing revolver at a probation office in Laindon. Nwokocha, who performs under the name ‘Drilla’ with Edmonton-based drill collective 3×3, was already on licence following an earlier prison sentence.
In 2023, he was convicted of supplying heroin and cocaine as part of a county lines operation in Basildon. Officers from Essex Police’s Operation Raptor team attended the probation office in October 2025 to arrest Nwokocha in connection with a separate investigation into alleged drug supply and child criminal exploitation offences. Police said Nwokocha appeared visibly shocked when officers entered the room and detained him.
As they searched a coat he had placed on the floor, he told officers: “That’s not mine.” A firearm was subsequently discovered inside one of its pockets. Examination of the weapon established it was a blank-firing revolver which had been converted and was capable of firing ammunition. Nwokocha was charged with several offences, including being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin, requiring a person to perform compulsory labour, attempted robbery and possession of a firearm.
He admitted the firearm offence. The remaining charges were either left to lie on file or dismissed following legal arguments.
Rapper claimed gang forced him to take gun
Nwokocha pleaded guilty on the basis that gang associates had forced him to take possession of the weapon and that he intended to surrender it when he attended the probation office. He claimed he had been sleeping in communal toilets at a London park when he was approached by gang members who threatened to stab him unless he took the firearm and found somewhere to hide it.
The prosecution did not accept his account, although it was not opposed for sentencing purposes. Police also highlighted a drill music video fronted by Nwokocha in 2024 in which lyrics portrayed firearms as symbols of status and power. Officers said the image presented through the music contrasted with the reality that Nwokocha was under probation supervision and subject to licence conditions.
At Southend Crown Court on Thursday, 6 August, Nwokocha was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison.
