Months of enquiries which identified two county line drug dealers who were targeting Surrey on a regular basis led to them being put behind bars on Friday (14 January).

Abubaker Basharo, 22, of no fixed address, and Lucas Carvalho Da Silva, 23, of no fixed address, were sentenced to a combined total of eight years and six months in prison when they appeared at Guildford Crown Court.

A lengthy investigation by officers resulted in both men as being involved with dealing cocaine and heroin to vulnerable drug users across the county and in London. Officers built a substantial enough picture of their criminal activities to be able to proactively stop them on Monday, April 19 last year in Guildford.

When officers stopped the car, Basharo, who was driving, and Da Silva attempted to get away by driving into the police car and causing a small amount of damage. When officers approached the car, they noticed a strong smell of cannabis and both were detained and searched. This resulted in the discovery of three mobile phones, wraps containing a white substance, as well as almost £400 in cash.

The men were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs. While in custody, Carvalho was found to be hiding multiple wraps within his clothing. These were quickly analysed and confirmed to be 30 wraps of heroin and 64 wraps of cocaine. As well as this, tests revealed that Basharo was under the influence of cannabis so was further arrested for driving whilst over the prescribed drug limit.

The seized mobile phones were analysed by a specialist drugs witness who confirmed multiple messages which were consistent with drug dealing.

Both men were subsequently charged with two counts each of possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class A and later pleaded guilty to both. Basharo received 56 months imprisonment, while Carvalho Da Silva was sentenced to 48 months in prison.

PC Andrew Tindale, who investigated this case, said: “Basharo and Carvalho De Silva firmly believed that they were above the law and thought that they could continue supplying heroin and cocaine to vulnerable users in Surrey without fear of consequence.

“Drug dealing is a blight on our local communities in Surrey and tackling it and ensuring those responsible are brought to justice remains one of our top priorities. Because a lot of the work we do is covert, it can often seem like nothing is being done. However, this case demonstrates that behind the scenes, we are building a picture of crimes being committed in order to identify those responsible.”

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