A drug importer has been spared prison after prosecutors accepted the five kilos of cannabis he ordered from America was for personal use.
Reuben Foster said he'd invested money made from cryptocurrency to make the large narcotics purchase. He pleaded guilty on the basis it was for personal use and that he would not have sold any, which was not challenged.
Newcastle Crown Court heard UK Border Force at Stansted Airport intercepted a parcel which was on its way to Foster's Tyneside home, in January this year. It contained ten heat-sealed packages containing a total of five kilos of cannabis.
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When police went to his home, he was seen discarding two bags of cannabis out of a window and further cannabis was seized in his bedroom. In total, officers sized 6.5 kilos, comprising the imported drugs and those found at his home.
Newcastle Crown Court heard they would have been worth up to £31,190. When interviewed, he said he had recently made $7,000 from cryptocurrency and used it to buy the cannabis.
The 25-year-old, of Felton Close, Shiremoor, North Tyneside, pleaded guilty to the fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on bringing a class C drug into the UK and possessing cannabis. He was sentenced to 24 weeks suspended for 12 months with a six month curfew and 120 hours unpaid work.
Recorder Andrew Latimer said: "Your basis of plea is that this was being imported for your personal use and the Crown have accepted that and that you are not a drug dealer supplying to others. You imported drugs for your own use, drugs which you were addicted to"
Jonathan Cousins, defending, said: "He pleaded guilty on the basis it was for his own personal use. He made money from cryptocurrency and used it to purchase cannabis from the USA. The first package, he received, the second was intercepted.
"He has considerably reduced his cannabis consumption and has found employment. He has been extremely stupid but is an intelligent man."
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