29 May 2013

Blenheim man sentenced for ordering red powders

Customs’ record haul of an unusual red powder containing the Class A drug dimethylltryptamine (DMT), has resulted in a Blenheim man being sentenced to seven months’ home detention.

Hamish Alexander Donaldson, 23, pleaded guilty at the Blenheim District Court yesterday to importing a Class A controlled drug. He had bought 18 kilograms of the red powder containing DMT from an overseas website and had planned to resell it online under the guise of plant dye.

Customs’ Manager Investigations, Mark Day, says DMT is a Class A drug in New Zealand and importing it is a serious criminal offence, regardless of its form or level of purity.

“DMT is a hallucinogenic that poses a real risk to users because people can react very differently to it. The effects range from mild and short-lived to extreme hallucination and complete loss of reality.

“DMT is rarely seen in New Zealand – Customs sometimes intercepts small amounts that have been ordered via the internet but this is the largest on record. The quantity clearly suggests the drugs were for commercial supply.

“It’s becoming increasingly common for opportunists to order illegal drugs online with the intent to resell them locally for a profit, but Customs is focussed on stopping these getting through and catching the importers,” Mr Day says.

In April 2011, Customs officers at the International Mail Centre in Auckland intercepted the haul of red powder that arrived from Mexico, and identified it as containing DMT. Customs officers executed a search warrant, arresting Donaldson at his Blenheim address a few days later.

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