Scotland has sentenced it’s first darkweb drug traffickers to prison. Two men were sentenced to a total of 8 years and six months in prison for supplying large quantities of drugs through the darkweb. This is the first time Scotland is convicting darkweb drug dealers.
The two men Connor Holmes, 24, and Scott Roddie, 29, are both from Aberdeen. Their operation distributed drugs worth more than £1.3 million to different countries in the world via the darkweb.
The police discovered the duo’s drug trafficking operation in 2018 when the Border Force intercepted two suspicious packages that were sent from the Netherlands to Holmes’ residence in Scotland. The packages had a total of 8.2 kilograms of MDMA in them.
Officers attached to the Organised Crime Partnership of Scotland executed a search warrant on Holmes’ residence. The officers found and seized more than 73,300 MDMA pills worth more than £733,600 and £8,500 in cash.
A day after they search his residence, the Border Force officers intercepted a drug package that was addressed to Holmes. The officers opened the package and found quantities of cocaine, heroin, and MDMA.
After investigating the suspects, they acquired arrest warrants. The duo later pleaded guilty on March 30, 2021, at the Edinburgh High Court.
From the address in Aberdeen, Holmes and Roddie were able to receive and distribute illicit drugs, with a street value of around £1.3 million on an international scale. Targeting the supply and distribution of controlled drugs across the country remains an absolute priority for the Organised Crime Partnership and its partner.
The men made use of the dark web and cryptocurrencies to support their criminal marketplace and used the UK postal system to distribute the drugs. This was a blatant attempt to protect their criminal enterprise and frustrate international law enforcement, which ultimately failed.
Detective Inspector Tom Gillan, Organised Crime Partnership
Sentence of duo in Scotland
Both men appeared before the Edinburgh High Court for their sentencing hearing on May 11, 2021. Holmes was sentenced to two years and three months in Prison and Roddie was sentenced to six years and three months in prison.