Captured: Drill rapper ‘dsavv’ arrested in france after cross-border manhunt

A convicted knifepoint robber and drill rapper who twice gave police the slip in a single week has been detained in northwestern France following an international search operation.

Daniel Boakye, 21, known by the stage name Dsavv, was apprehended on Monday evening, 2 March, in the quiet commune of La Bouëxière, Brittany—a stark contrast to the London streets where he carried out a string of violent cryptocurrency heists.

The arrest was the result of a coordinated strike involving the Metropolitan Police, the National Crime Agency (NCA), and French law enforcement, who tracked the fugitive after he was reportedly smuggled out of the UK in a heavy goods vehicle.

Boakye had been serving a sentence of six years and five months at HMP Feltham and was awaiting deportation to Ghana when he first escaped from West Middlesex University Hospital on 10 February.

Despite being recaptured a day later, he absconded again on 15 February while under police guard at Lewisham Hospital, sparking a major embarrassment for the Met’s custodial security protocols.

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While on the run, Boakye brazenly taunted the authorities on social media, posting a freestyle rap video in front of a news report of his own escape with the lyrics: “I just broke out of jail like Modie.”

The reference to a character from the crime drama Top Boy served as a digital "finger-flick" to the government, with the rapper further labelling officials as "phoneys" while smoking a joint on camera.

Scotland Yard confirmed on Tuesday that arrangements are now "well underway" to extradite Boakye back to the UK to face the legal consequences of his high-profile "prison break" antics.

Beyond the initial robbery charges, Boakye now faces additional counts of escaping lawful custody—a common law offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, though more typically results in consecutive custodial sentences.

Read more: Drill rapper on the run: Gangster taunts cops after second hospital escape

Legal experts suggest his "freedom" may have cost him years of additional jail time in a high-security UK estate before the Home Office can finally execute his pending deportation order to Ghana.

Deep Dive: The "Dsavv" Strategy—Motive or Mistake?

The audacity of Daniel Boakye's double escape and his subsequent taunts on Instagram suggest a level of bravado that often backfires within the UK’s judicial framework.

By fleeing to France, Boakye has successfully added "international fugitive" to his profile, ensuring that when he returns, he will likely be classified as a Category A prisoner, the highest security rating available.

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Legal Consequences & The Deportation Delay:

1. Consecutive Sentencing: Escaping lawful custody is a serious offence. He is likely to receive a new, consecutive sentence that will be "tacked on" to the end of his current 6-year term.
2. Deportation Stalling: Under UK law, a foreign national offender (FNO) cannot typically be deported until they have served the punitive element of their sentence. By racking up more "time," Boakye has—ironically—secured a much longer stay on British soil, albeit behind bars.
3. Motive Analysis: There is a school of thought in forensic psychology that for some FNOs, the fear of deportation is so great that committing new crimes in the UK becomes a perverted survival strategy. By ensuring he is "too dangerous" or "too busy" serving new sentences, he delays his return to Ghana.

However, the "Modie" fantasy usually ends in a concrete cell. Boakye’s taunts have likely burned any bridge he had for a "voluntary return" or early removal, ensuring the Home Office will be twice as motivated to see him removed the moment his new, longer sentence expires.