Marshall Scurfield, 22, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, has been sentenced to four years in prison after he admitted to attempting to import thousands of ecstasy tablets into the UK.
Scurfield used Snapchat to coordinate the delivery of a parcel containing 29,000 skull-shaped ecstasy pills from the Netherlands to an address in South Tyneside, where he was living at the time.
The package was intercepted by Border Force officials at Birmingham Airport, who discovered the green skull-shaped pills. They notified the National Crime Agency (NCA), and the tablets were found to contain MDMA with an estimated street value of £140,000.
After removing the drugs, the NCA sent a dummy package to Scurfield, who had been receiving tracking updates via Snapchat. On February 25, 2022, he was arrested after accepting the parcel.
When questioned, Scurfield admitted that he had agreed to accept the parcel in order to settle a drug debt. He had arranged the delivery using Snapchat.
Scurfield pleaded guilty to importing Class A drugs, and was sentenced to four years in prison at Newcastle Crown Court.
NCA branch commander Martin Clarke commented, “Marshall Scurfield attempted to import dangerous Class A drugs into the UK, believing he could escape detection by using the postal system. Thanks to our collaboration with Border Force, we were able to stop a significant quantity of ecstasy from reaching UK streets, preventing exploitation and violence.”
The NCA continues to target and dismantle organized crime networks involved in smuggling operations like this.
