Andreas Nicolas charged after major British organised-crime operation
On 1 October, the Metropolitan Police announced a fourth defendant following a major operation with HMRC and financial regulator FCA. The wider investigation concerns suspected organised crime and financial offences.
Andreas Nicolas, then 64 and from Duxford, was charged with possessing a revolver and an electric shock weapon. Police said he had been released on bail after his initial arrest, then arrested again after searches uncovered weapons suspected of belonging to him.
More than 800 officers joined the operation on 29 September. They searched 24 addresses in London, Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. Seventeen people were initially arrested, followed by an eighteenth later that day. Suspicions in the wider investigation included money laundering, tax evasion and participation in an organised crime group.
Police also announced charges against Charles Charalambous, Carl Robinson and Bradley Byford. Charalambous was charged with wounding an officer to resist arrest; Robinson and Byford faced weapons charges. All four also remained under investigation in the wider case. The FCA reported disruption of seven firms and enquiries into another 30.
