SLED charges former Mount Pleasant officer after discovery of packages that tested positive for cocaine

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – South Carolina’s top law enforcement agency announced Thursday charges against a former Mount Pleasant officer.

Andrew Rowell, 40, was fired from the Mount Pleasant Police Department earlier this year after it was discovered that a ‘suspicious package’ with his name on it was accidentally delivered to the wrong address.

Officers responded to a residence on Show Basket Way during the afternoon of Jan. 31 where an individual said he received a parcel in his locked mailbox that contained a plastic bag containing a white powdery substance.

Responding officers recovered the item and noticed it was addressed to Rowell, who the officer knew was an employee of the Mount Pleasant Police Department and lived a few doors down.

The substance was initially field tested which came back as presumptive for cocaine. It was later field tested at the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s laboratory which confirmed the substance as cocaine and weighed approximately 6.31 grams.

During a search of Rowell’s department-issued police vehicle, two green plastic bags and a clear plastic bag containing a white powder residue.

“These bags were unique and consistent with the size and design of the black plastic bags located in the parcel addressed to the defendant,” SLED noted in an affidavit.

A test of the bags came back presumptive for cocaine and was later confirmed at SLED’s lab.

Affidavits say a second package was intercepted that contained a vacuum-sealed plastic bag with a white powdery substance, which also field-tested presumptive for cocaine. It was also confirmed in SLED’s lab as cocaine with a weight of 3.50 grams.

Rowell was arrested Wednesday and charged with intent to distribute cocaine. He was booked into the Charleston County Detention Center.