A Forfar man who imported thousands of diazepam tablets from India after ordering them on the internet to feed his habit was jailed for nine months.
Customs officers and Royal Mail staff north and south of the border intercepted packages bound for Mark Neave’s Forfar flat after the 31-year-old turned to online bulk buying as he did not want to get involved with street dealers.
Neave appeared for sentence at the town’s sheriff court on Thursday having previously admitted an indictment alleging that he was concerned in the supplying of diazepam between March 15 and 18 last year.
Depute fiscal Hannah Kennedy said the total number of tablets involved was 2500, with a value of £1500-2500.
She said suspicion initially fell on Neave after Customs and Excise in Coventry came across a package from India addressed to him which contained 1000 tablets.
“An operation took place whereby an undercover officer delivered the purchase to the accused. Other officers then entered the property with a search warrant.”
Two further packages were subsequently discovered by Perth mail staff one with 50 blister packs amounting to 500 tablets and another, two days later, with 1000 tablets, all addressed to Neave.
Defence agent Brian Bell said his client was a joiner who had suffered a drastic cut in hours due to the economic downturn.
“The packages purchased cost him approximately £250 and while the figures give a £1 per tablet potential, the cost to him was significantly less.
“He was a user of diazepam for a period of time, and he did not want to become involved in the purchase of it in local pubs and such like so he found that buying from the internet was an easier thing to do.
“There is a minimum quantity that has to be sent from India because it is coming from so far away.”
Mr Bell said that when friends became aware Neave had the tablets he would give them some, so in that respect he accepted he was involved in supply.
“As a drug dealer, if you are looking to make money which invariably drug dealers are a class C substance is not the drug of choice if you’re motivated simply by financial gain.”
Jailing Neave, Sheriff Kevin Veal said, “I think custody cannot be avoided.”