DUNEDIN: Concern over Dunedin students importing drugs via the dark web will prompt an Orientation Week warning from authorities.
Police and Customs officers raided multiple properties in Dunedin, resulting in two students appearing in court on charges of importing and supplying MDMA.
A search warrant on a property revealed $18,000 in cash, along with cocaine, ecstasy, LSD, and prescription medicine.
The students, who have interim name suppression, bought drugs over the dark web.
It was one of several similar cases in the city during 2015 and “Dunedin is our biggest problem at the moment”, Kirk McPherson, chief Customs investigations officer, said
“I am very concerned it is tip of the iceberg stuff, some are obviously getting through because they are still doing it.”
In an effort to crack down on the growing problem, Customs would have a visible presence during the University of Otago Orientation Week, warning students of the danger of importing drugs over the internet.
“They are playing Russian roulette, they think they are clever and are getting away with it, but how do they know?
“Those guys thought they were getting away with it, now look at the consequences they are facing,” McPherson said.
He declined to say whether more students were being monitored, but many cases involved drug importers being watched for months.
“It is a lure for some people but it is unfortunate they are making money off some people off other people’s misery.”
Cases dealt with by the courts included students who bought drugs over the dark web, which were sent to a New Zealand PO Box, a friend’s house, or even a vacant property.
Detective Senior Sergeant Malcolm Inglis from the Southern District Organised Crime Team said police needed to change their strategy “because we don’t want to see these kids before the courts destroying their careers”.
“So we are looking at doing something during the start of the academic year.”
Monday was the latest student drug-importing crackdown after police and NZ Customs carried out three search warrants in North Dunedin and a fourth in Green Island in August, targeting ecstasy importation.
In 2014, Dunedin student Nicholas Peter Heatley, 22, was sentenced to four years’ jail for importing more than $70,000 worth of drugs sourced from the dark web into the country.
