A university dropout who spent all day on the internet, advertised his willingness to take in parcels and deliver them, in exchange for crypto-pay.

But when a Glock 19 self-loading pistol in 9mm Parabellum calibre, with magazines, was put in the post to Izunna Enechukwu - it was intercepted by US police officers, who removed the handgun from it's gun box.

Enechukwu's address was then passed onto the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the empty gun box was put back inside of an electrical device it had been hidden in, before being put back in the post.

British police then watched outside Enechukwu's Middlesbrough flat as he answered his door to receive the parcel, before going out to buy some screwdrivers, on November 29, 2023. Teesside Crown Court has heard Enechukwu, 30, needed the tools to get inside the electrical device.

Armed officers from the NCA surrounded Enechukwu's flat and forced their way in. Enechukwu was filming himself opening the package, when he was arrested.

Enechikwu's phone contained photos he had taken of the gun box - before sending them to a contact on Telegram. It emerged that Enechikwu had advertised his availability to take in parcels on the dark web, and he was being paid in Bitcoin for taking delivery of packages.

On Wednesday, the court heard that Enechikwu had been arrested in April 2022, when a parcel containing 250 ecstasy tablets, sent to him from Hong Kong, was intercepted by police. He was still on bail while police investigated, when he re-advertised his services online in 2023, and the handgun was posted to him.

The court heard that other communications found on his phone talked about leaving a previous parcel in a Middlesbrough toilet, for someone to collect.

Enechikwu, formerly of Woodlands Road, in Middlesbrough, but now of no fixed abode, admitted:

  • attempting to possess a firearm with intent,
  • dealing in a class A drug with intent to evade importation prohibition.

He has a previous conviction for travelling on a train without buying a ticket.

The court heard that Enechikwu moved to England from Ireland when he was five. His barrister Derek Duffy said that he is "very bright, but there was pressure on him to do well. He had planned to study medicine but didn't get in. He dropped out of his science degree because he couldn't deal with the pressure. He took a job in telesales."

Mr Duffy told the court that Enechikwu became estranged from his family and that he suffers from social anxiety. He said: "He spent all day on the internet. He wasn't meeting people for weeks on end. He originally went onto the dark web to buy himself some cannabis and he became aware that jobs were being offered. He was acting as a postbox."

Judge Chris Smith told Enechikwu that he had "withdrawn from society as a whole" when he began using the dark web, "...dark because so often what's going on in that underbelly of the internet, relates to offending.

"Your devices showed that you had advertised your services and that you had received and forwarded packages on three other occasions. The Glock was fully operational with magazines and a manual. Someone was trying to import a prohibited firearm into this country.

"The package was intercepted and then made it's way to you. You were videoing yourself opening the electrical device, no doubt to confirm receipt.

"You must have realised when you signed up to receive packages - no questions asked - that they would either be class A drugs or a dangerous weapon. If that Glock pistol had been received by you and you had forwarded it, as was your role, it would have fallen into the hands of serious criminals."

Enechikwu was jailed for 62 months.

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