A drug dealer from Halewood has been jailed today, Thursday, 11 September 2025, after leaving a trail of clues which led detectives to identify him as ‘keystag’ in encrypted messages.

Andrew Christian Brown, 33 years, was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to Class A and B drug offences.

Brown, of Hever Drive, had pleaded guilty to 5 counts, namely conspiracy to fraudulently evade the prohibition on the importation of cannabis and conspiracy to produce cannabis. Also conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, cocaine and heroin, and Class B drugs, cannabis. 

He was arrested on 13 November last year at HMP Altcourse where he was already serving a sentence for previous drug offences. 

Operation Aquarium is Merseyside Police’s response to Operation Venetic:- an international operation targeting criminals who used a mobile encryption service, commonly referred to as Encrochat, in an attempt to evade detection. 

Brown was identified as having used the Encrochat handle ‘keystag’ between March 2020 and May 2020 when conspiring to supply 8.5kg of cocaine, 0.5kg of heroin and 47kg of cannabis, as well as conspiring to produce cannabis and to import cannabis.

Users of other Encrochat handles had him saved as ‘Andy B’ and ‘A.B’ in their contact lists, another handle named him as ‘Andy’ during their message exchange.

Detective Inspector Jay Boardman from Op Aquarium said:- “The Encrochat messages clearly demonstrated that Brown played a leading role in supplying Class A and B drugs by leaving various clues to identity himself within the Encrochat data. He sent a picture of his car parked in front of his family home, which was registered to him, and sent 2 pictures of a hand holding two watches which was found to be him holding the watches. Serious organised crime gangs are a blight on our communities where drugs are closely linked to serious violence, involving firearm and knife crime. I hope this sentencing shows that Merseyside Police will leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of people who think they are above the law, and we will continue to target criminals by thoroughly examining any evidence, messages and images we find.”

Anyone with information on drug dealing should contact the Merseyside Police social media desk @MerPolCC on X and Facebook. You can also report information via their website or call:- 101.

Alternatively, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on:- 0800 555 111, or via their website here.