Scotland's first ever dark web convicted drug lords jailed following distribution of drugs internationally with a street value of around £1.3 million

Two men from Aberdeen, who used the postal system and dark web to distribute class A drugs across the world with a street value of around £1.3 million, have been sentenced to prison.

L-R: Connor Holmes, 24, and Scott Roddie, 29 (Photo: Police Scotland).

The convictions and sentencing of Connor Holmes, 24, and Scott Roddie, 29, the first of their kind in Scotland, have been welcomed by police and prosecutors.

At the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday, May 11, Holmes was sentenced to two years and three months and Roddie to six years and three months for being involved in the supply and importation of controlled drugs.

In December 2018, two parcels from the Netherlands, which were addressed to Holmes, were intercepted by the Border Force and found to containing 8.2 kg of MDMA.

Connor Holmes, 24.

Officers from the Organised Crime Partnership (Scotland) also searched Holmes’ address and recovered approximately 73,366 MDMA tablets.

These tablets were found to be worth at least £733,660 and £8,500 in cash.

A day later a further parcel, addressed to Holmes, containing cocaine, heroin, and more MDMA was recovered within the postal system.

Following enquiries, both Holmes and Roddie were arrested and charged with drugs offences.

Scott Roddie, 29 (Photo: Police Scotland).

Both men had pled guilty when they appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh on March 30 this year. Following their sentencing, Detective Inspector Tom Gillan of the Organised Crime Partnership (Scotland) said: “The men made use of the dark web and cryptocurrencies to support their criminal market place 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.

“This is an example of a targeted investigation which disrupted a developed and sophisticated criminal model, based in the North East of Scotland and I am happy to acknowledge the hard work of the officers involved in a complex and challenging investigation.”

David Green, procurator fiscal for homicide and major crime, said: “This was a concentrated effort to bring significant quantities of illegal and harmful drugs through Scotland, which was foiled thanks to co-operation between law enforcement agencies and COPFS.

“Drugs cause harm and feed addiction in Scotland’s communities and these men sought to profit from that misery."

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