Norwood man with knife convicted after Snapchat video

A man from Norwood has been convicted after he filmed himself waving a knife around in a nightclub.

Abel Buafo, 23, of Berry Lane, pleaded guilty to possession of a knife, possession of Class A drugs, possession of a Class B drug, possession of criminal property and being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug.

It comes after detectives were alerted to Snapchat videos of Buafo at a nightclub on Silver Street in Enfield, where he recorded himself in ‘selfie style’ with a black folding knife on December 22, 2019.

Officers reviewed CCTV from the nightclub for the same evening which corroborated the Snapchat footage.

Your Local Guardian: Buafo with knife on Snapchat ( Credit: Met Police)Buafo with knife on Snapchat ( Credit: Met Police)

The footage showed Buafo dancing and singing while waving the knife around, pointing it at his phone’s camera as well as towards people. The footage also showed Buafo ‘fist bumping’ people while holding the knife.

He is seen several times to get the knife out of his pocket and flick it open – at one point he is seen to drop it on the floor before picking it up.

In the Snapchat footage, he says he has his ‘blicky at the rave,’ while holding the knife up to the camera – blicky is a slang term for knife.

Outside the club, he stated on Snapchat: ‘I’ve got my blicky on me.’

His friend nudged him and said ‘shhh’ to which Buafo replied ‘I don’t even care about the feds bruv, on my mum’s life.’

Later that day he posted an image on Snapchat looking sad with the caption ‘lost my shank’ – shank is also a slang term for knife.

Your Local Guardian: Buafo ( Credit: Met Police)Buafo ( Credit: Met Police)

On February 11, 2020, officers forced entry to his home address on Berry Lane and noticed that the sink was overflowing with a number of plates, which had a white coloured layer of bubbles forming on them.

Officers noted that they were not ‘typical washing-up bubbles’ but something derived from a diluted powder of chemical – giving the impression that Buafo had hurriedly flushed something down the sink.

Police took a sample of the white powder in the sink, which was found to be phenacetin, a well-known cutting agent for making crack cocaine.

Officers searched the property and found an ‘overwhelming amount’ of drugs paraphernalia as well as scales, snap bags, a hydraulic press, cannabis and MDMA pills.

Your Local Guardian: Picture of cash found by Met Police Picture of cash found by Met Police

They also found £225 in cash, £1,200 in counterfeit cash and a Rambo-style knife.

Officers also searched another address linked to Buafo on Walworth Road, SE1, where they found a large bag of cannabis, 903mg of cocaine, two scales and snap bags.

Buafo was arrested and taken to a south London police station where he offered no prepared statement and answered no comment to all questions put to him – even when he was shown the CCTV and Snapchat footage.

Detectives examined Buafo’s phone where they found evidence of drug supply going back to September 2018 as well as evidence of him living a lavish lifestyle with a photo album of expensive items.

He was subsequently charged on February 12, 2020 and was convicted as above.

Your Local Guardian: Credit: Met Police Credit: Met Police

Detective Sergeant Raymond Sekalongo, the investigating officer, said: “Buafo was arrogant enough to think he was above the law and thought he could not only take a knife into a nightclub – but broadcast himself on social media doing it.

“Buafo was wrong not to ‘care about the feds,’ because the Met is absolutely committed to taking offensive weapons and drugs off the streets of London.

“The knife in the nightclub and the Rambo knife found in Buafo’s address is yet another example of the intractable link between drug supply and violence.

“Those carrying weapons and supplying drugs should expect a visit from us in the near future.”

Buafo will be sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on September 17.

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