A student at the University of Chester has been sentenced to prison for buying and reselling drugs sourced on the darknet.
The student named Gayan Aponsu, 22, was studying at the University of Chester and was sentenced to prison at the Chester Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to two counts of importing class A and class B drugs, three counts of supplying class A drugs, and three counts of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply.
According to information from public sources, the student said he had purchased a variety of drugs from a darkweb vendor operating from Netherlands. He also admitted he resold the drugs once his shipments had arrived.
Gayan Aponsu (Student)
During his sentencing hearing on July 2, 2021, the court fount out that Aponsu’s drug trafficking operation was discovered by Border Force officers who intercepted two incoming packages addressed to him. The packages were shipped out of the Netherlands. After opening the package the officers found 20 grams of 57 MDMA and 10 grams of ketamine.
The packages were addressed to Aponsu’s residence but it was under the name of one of his friends. The friend was arrested. During the interrogation, the police established that Aponsu’s friend had no connection or knowledge of the drug trafficking operation.
The police executed a search warrant at Aponsu’s residence. The search of his residence resulted in the seizure of 1.7 grams of cocaine, 10 LSD tablets, and 57.75 MDMA tablets. Weighing scales, bags, and a mobile phone were also found and seized by the police.
At the court Aponsu pleaded guilty. Before issuing a sentence Judge Mark Ainsworth said:
You were able to source ecstasy and ketamine from the so-called dark web and arranged for them to be sent to the UK to your address. To do that, you used the name of a fellow student, who was wholly blameless. He suffered the distress of being arrested and interviewed he must have sat there thinking his world was falling apart. His only misfortune was knowing you. It’s quite shameful you should involve him in this way.
Judge Ainsworth sentenced Aponsu to three years and eight months in prison.