Dunedin student jailed for dark web drug imports

A 20-year old Dunedin student who imported a "supermarket of drugs" over the dark web, has been sentenced to a seven year prison term.

Daniel Patrick McKechnie was sentenced on 18 drug related charges when he appeared before Judge Kevin Phillips in the Dunedin District Court on Thursday.

Those charges included the importation of methamphetamine, MDMA, and LSD, and supplying cocaine.

Combined the drugs had an estimated value of $167,000,

Appearing beside McKechnie was Mitchell Charles Connor-Dagg, also 20, who was sentenced to three years prison on five charges of being a party to importing methamphetamine and ecstasy (MDMA).

Judge Phillips noted that "criminal web" involved McKechnie accessing drugs via the dark web, via the Silk Road site, which were then sent to New Zealand between November 2014 and January 2015.

Those packages - sourced from all corners of the globe - ended up in various PO Boxes around Dunedin, opened using fake names and fake identifications by his friends such as Connor-Dagg.

"It was all planned and thought out."

Judge Phillips noted McKechnie had a "supermarket of drugs", with court documents revealing two packages of meth alone had a street value of $112,000.

A smaller amount of meth, valued at $7000, was intercepted at the Auckland Mail Centre on January 12.

McKechnie checked the PO boxes periodically, or utilised friends such as Connor-Dagg  who was paid either in cash or with drugs for his own use.

Both men were very intelligent, but drugs had led them astray, Judge Phillips said.

A major aggravating factor in sentencing McKechnie was some of his offending happened while on bail for similar offences.

He noted the support in the court of their family and friends.

"Today is the day you pay the price."

Speaking outside court, Detective Senior Sergeant Malcolm Inglis, of Southern District Police organised crime, said the sentences sent a strong message but also "a sad message . . . there is no winners in this".

"Police don't want to see young people of this age infront of the court, me personally I am sad to see 20-year-olds going to prison for seven years for stupid offending."

Asked whether he was surprised by the scale of the offending, he replied police were seeing "this type more and more".

Last year,  Dunedin student Nicholas Peter Heatley, 22, was sentenced to four years' jail for sourcing over the dark web more than $70,000 worth of drugs into the country.

"People think they can make easy money, across the internet which is a faceless society where you don't have to front up and it is an easy way to bring drugs in," Inglis said.

Inglis had no doubt there were more cases of this type, as there was a willing market.

However those who took the risk faced serious consequences, and he praised the work of New Zealand Customs and Police for their work in bringing offenders to justice.