Two men have been sentenced following the discovery of a package containing more than 10,000 LSD tablets disguised as ‘legal highs’.
Jack Alexander Geach, 27, and Mark Vaughan, 28, both of Remus Close, St Albans, were sentenced at St Albans Crown Court on March 27.
The court heard that the pair had used a mail box company to distribute ‘New Psychoactive Substances’ (NPS) overseas.
The package, labelled as being ‘documentation’, was set to be sent to Australia when staff at Heathrow Airport became suspicious.
The police were called to the scene and the package was found to actually contain sheets of paper with a psychedelic print containing more than 10,000 LSD tablets.
After testing the substances, which were first believed to be ‘legal highs’, they were found to contain a high percentage of the Class A substance.
They soon tracked the package back to the two men, who were arrested at their home address in July of last year.
Geach was sentenced to two years and three months and one year and nine months for two charges of possession with intent to avoid prohibition.
He was also given one year and three months for a charge of exportation with intent to avoid probation, to run concurrently.
Vaughan was given two nine month suspended sentences, to run concurrently, for possession of Class A controlled drugs, a 150 hour community order, and a curfew between 8pm-7am for four months.
DI Ian Butler, who led the investigation, said there was a huge concern around tackling the false representation of ‘legal highs’.
He explained: “NPS are harmful chemical substitutes for dangerous drugs. They are designed by chemists to be used as illegal drugs and in many cases they have been tested they are found to contain illegal substances.
“There is nothing ‘legal’ about them. They can cause long term organ failure, brain damage or death. They are not fit for human consumption.
“Parliament is clearly working hard to keep up with slight chemical changes in drugs that side step legislation, and suitable classification is being given to suitable substances when evaluated.
“I hope this goes some way to educate and deter those considering consuming or distributing NPS substances that legislative loopholes are being closed.”
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