Cocaine dealer jailed 12 years after using drug phone to call police

Andrew Savage, 34, from Stockton sold over £1m of cocaine over six years. He was caught after using his drug operation phone to report a burglary.

Drug kingpin's fatal blunder: burglary call on narcotics phone exposed £1m cocaine empire

A cocaine dealer living a self-styled "millionaire's" lifestyle was unmasked after he used the same mobile phone registered to his drug operation to report a burglary to police, Teesside Crown Court has heard. Google News UK — Crime (en) reports that Andrew Savage, 34, of Stockton, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after admitting being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.

Prosecutor Shaun Dryden told the court that the investigation began on 19 November 2025, when Middlesbrough police stopped a man acting suspiciously and found him carrying wraps of cocaine and two mobile phones. Messages on the devices showed the man was supplying drugs on behalf of someone operating under the alias "Machete" — a figure who was running the line, restocking supplies and providing vehicles for street-level deliveries.

Detectives were "very keen to find out who Machete was," Dryden said. A search of the phone number attributed to Machete revealed it had been used in 2024 to report a burglary — with the caller identified as Savage. Records obtained from the mobile phone company confirmed the handset and number were registered in his name.

Officers who had visited Savage's home in December 2025 on an unrelated matter had already noted his expensive watch, necklace and ring. That observation added to growing suspicions. He was arrested at his address on 25 March, where police recovered £20,000 in cash stuffed in a carrier bag in the loft, a further £1,800 in his bedroom and £500 worth of cocaine in the back yard.

Among the items subsequently seized were a BMW valued at £96,000, a necklace worth £25,000 and a Rolex watch estimated at no less than £50,000. Dryden told the court that an examination of Savage's credit card records showed he had spent almost £127,000 on first-class flights, luxury holidays and clothing between January 2023 and April 2026.

Bank account records showed Savage had received 15,604 individual payments since 2020 — predominantly in apparent £50, £70 and £100 drug transactions — totalling £1,033,600. Drugs experts estimated he had sold approximately 13.7kg of cocaine over a six-year period. The court also heard evidence that he had been dealing in gold bullion.

Recorder Mark Giuliani said Savage had been living an "extravagant" and "millionaire's" lifestyle while playing a leading role in the gang. He said the cocaine Savage and his associates put on the streets caused "crime and misery" and had "devastated the lives" of many people.

Detective Sergeant Owen Collingwood of Cleveland Police said after the hearing that the sentence was "testament to [Savage's] criminality" and reflected "how he exploited others to do his dirty work while he enjoyed the rewards."

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)