Man jailed for drugs offences after giving Surrey Police officers false name
Officers stopped his car after being spotted driving at 100mph
A man who tried to conceal drugs in a hide in his car and provide a false identify to officers in Surrey has been jailed for more than four years.
Andrew Charalambous, 61, from Camberley, was arrested on Sunday 27 June 2021 after an unmarked police car on routine patrol was driving on the A31 Hogs Back from Guildford towards Aldershot when they noticed a silver Renault Megan driving very closely behind them. Officers moved over to allow the vehicle to pass them, with the driver increasing their speed to in excess of 100mph.
Surrey officers then followed the vehicle off the slip road to the A331, where the vehicle almost collided with a silver Mercedes. Officers stopped the vehicle on North Lane, Aldershot. When they approached the driver, there was only one person in the car who told them his name was ‘Stephen’, which transpired to be a false name. He claimed he was rushing from his sister’s house so he could take medication for various medical conditions and was ‘desperate for the toilet’.
When officers carried out checks of the vehicle, they found it was registered to a different person, who he alleged was his friend and he was looking to buy the car from. Officers noticed that something wasn’t right, and the man appeared to be nervous.
A search of the car was conducted under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, where a mobile phone, a bank card with the name ‘Andrew Charalambous’, and a till receipt containing a small amount of white rock suspected to be Class A drugs was found.
Searches of the vehicle also found a carrier bag containing a package wrapped in tape in a hide in the vehicle. Inside the package were white rocks which officers believed to be Class A drugs.
When challenged about his identity again, ‘Stephen’ later admitted that he was in fact, Andrew Charalambous.
Charalambous was arrested for a number of offences including, on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs. On Monday 27 October, he was jailed for four years and four months.
The officer who investigated the case said: “Officers on routine patrol followed their instincts and through their natural curiosity, challenged the suspects account when things weren’t adding up. It led to a significant amount of drugs being located and removed from the streets, preventing harm being caused to our communities. Drugs ruin lives. And Surrey Police is committed to rooting out individuals who come into our county to supply drugs, rigorously disrupting, investigating and relentlessly pursuing a successful prosecution”.