A man who tried to use the postal system to import thousands of skull-shaped ecstasy tablets into the UK has been jailed for four years.
Marshall Scurfield, 22, of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, used Snapchat to arrange for the delivery of a parcel containing 29,000 tablets from the Netherlands to an address in South Tyneside where he was living.
Border Force officials at Birmingham Airport intercepted the package and found the green skull-shaped pills, and tipped off the National Crime Agency (NCA).
The tablets were later tested and found to contain the drug MDMA. They had an estimated street value of £140,000.
The NCA removed the tablets and sent a dummy package to Scurfield, who had been receiving parcel tracking updates over Snapchat.
It then arrested the 22-year-old on February 25 2022, after he was observed accepting the package.
When questioned, Scurfield admitted he had agreed to accept the parcel to settle a drug debt, and arrangements for its delivery had been made using Snapchat.
He admitted a charge of importing class A drugs, and was sentenced to four years in prison at Newcastle Crown Court on Tuesday, the NCA said.
NCA branch commander Martin Clarke said: “Marshall Scurfield attempted to import dangerous class A drugs into the UK and thought that by using the postal system he would escape attention from law enforcement.
“Working with our colleagues at Border Force, we were able to prevent a sizeable quantity of ecstasy from making it to our streets, where it would have created exploitation and violence.
“We continue to pursue and dismantle high harm organised crime networks behind smuggling attempts like these.”
