A New Zealand man has been placed on house arrest after he ordered methamphetamine on the dark web.
This happened after he had been charged and released on bail for a similar crime.
Christopher William Tett, a resident of New Plymouth, New Zealand, had been arrested with two others in 2016 for ordering methamphetamine and ecstasy from the dark web.
Tett would go know to make another order in 2017, after being released on bail. A court has now ordered him to spend 12 months in home detention.
Multiple Orders
Tett, 33, ordered 14.4 grams of methamphetamine and 3.6 grams of ecstasy in 2016, between May and September.
The packages containing the drugs were intercepted by authorities at the Auckland International Mail Centre.
Tett and two other accomplices were arrested from their home in Christchurch and arraigned in court.
He pleaded guilty to charges of drug importation. He was released on bail and put in house detention at a New Plymouth address.
Tett would go on to make another order in May 2017, while at the New Plymouth address. He ordered 10 grams of methamphetamine.
He would be arraigned court again and charged with another charge of drug importation.
During the proceedings, it was revealed that Tett had been using drugs from a young age. He had later joined and completed the Salvation Army Bridge drug rehabilitation program.
Court Proceedings
In his defense, lawyer Paul Keegan remarked that Tett would import the drugs for his own consumption, but not for any commercial purposes.
Keegan noted that the orders were very infrequent. He also revealed that the methamphetamine Tett bought overseas has better quality and was cheaper.
He also pointed out that his addiction was the main driver of his actions.
Keegan said that despite the charges, Tett deserved some credit for pleading guilty and for his efforts in the drug rehabilitation program.
The audience in support of Tett at the courtroom was large. It included his parents and other recovering addicts that Tett had been with at the rehabilitation program.
The prosecution, led by lawyer Ruth Harcourt from Christchurch, agreed that Tett deserved credit and left it to the judge to decide whether he should get home detention.
Judge Garry Barkle accepted many of the arguments fronted by Tett's lawyer.
He, however, noted that the offenses looked worse because of Tett's re-order even after he had been charged.
The judge sentenced him to a two-year jail term, which he would later convert into house detention.
He will now serve 12 months in house detention, after factoring in the eight months he had been in custody before the sentencing.
Drug Statistics Indicate a Larger Issue
Drug abuse and addiction has continued to soar in New Zealand due to drug trafficking propagated by the dark web.
According to last year's Global Drug Survey, around 3 percent of New Zealand's population was using or had used meth in 2017.
That's a staggering amount of people considering New Zealand had an approximate population of 4.6 million people by then.
Increasingly, methamphetamine is becoming easily accessible among those in the country.
One survey further indicated that meth is cheaper and more obtainable than marijuana in New Zealand.
New Zealand law enforcement's effort to mitigate drug trafficking is ongoing as the government invests more infrastructure to combat darknet crime.
Disclaimer:
The articles and content found on Dark Web News are for general information purposes only and are not intended to solicit illegal activity or constitute legal advice. Using drugs is harmful to your health and can cause serious problems including death and imprisonment, and any treatment should not be undertaken without medical supervision.
