Jail for dealer who bought $250k of ecstasy by post

A DARWIN man convicted of importing $250,000 of ecstasy into the Territory via the dark web has been sentenced in the Supreme Court to three and a half years in prison.

• Dark web drug runner pleads over $250,000 MDMA import racket
• Postal drug bust lands man in court

A DARWIN man convicted of importing $250,000 of ecstasy into the Territory via the dark web is set to be released next month.

Declan Athol Reid, 23, was sentenced in the Supreme Court last week to three and a half years in prison, suspended after six months, after pleading guilty to a number of drug charges, including importing a commercial quantity of MDMA analogues.

MORE CRIME & COURT NEWS

Darwin property crime at 20 year low due to impact of COVID-19 lockdown, new police stats show

Coroner Greg Cavanagh delivers scathing review of NT Corrections in inquest findings into death of contract killer Christopher Mark Malyschko

Man faces string of charges after alleged public knife attack in Alice Springs

The court heard Reid used the dark web to buy IDs he used to open four post boxes at Casuarina Post Office and then had drugs sent from overseas to himself.

Before a national operation aimed at cracking down on dark web drug trafficking in December 2019, Reid bought a range of illicit drugs such as cocaine, ketamine, LSD and more than 1.6kg of MDMA.

He also bought a range of prescription drugs, including etizolam, commonly known as benzos.

Reid was arrested in April last year after police intercepted packages sent to his PO boxes, before searching his house and finding a mobile phone that revealed Reid had been dealing the drugs to others.

They also found and seized more than $800 in cash.

Reid’s lawyer, Peter Maley, told the court his client had developed a drug problem due to his chronic anxiety, including “a lengthy history of misuse of prescription medication”.

Mr Maley said when his personal drug use increased he began buying and selling the drugs while in a “drug haze” on the computer in his bedroom.

“You were able to purchase the drugs using Bitcoin,” sentencing Justice Jenny Blokland said.

“The drugs were cheap on the internet, and you either used them yourself or you supplied to others, who, the court was told, were your close friends and associates.”

Justice Blokland said dark web trafficking was becoming “a prevalent way for people to not only obtain the drugs but then to on sell them”.

“Significant law enforcement resources are required to be diverted to deal with what is now an international problem,” she said.

However, the court heard Reid had made a significant effort to turn his life around, completing an 18-week residential rehab program while on remand.

“That is very much to your credit,” Justice Blokland said.

NT NEWS sizzling new deal: Get all your news for just $5 a month

“Many people, if not the majority, are unable to complete the Banyan House program.

She said she considered Reid to have a low risk of reoffending “given your efforts since your arrest and the other relevant protective factors”.