Izunna Enechukwu ‘acted as a postbox’ and passed packages with ‘no questions asked’ in exchange for bitcoin pay (Image: National Crime Agency)
A university dropout who acted as a “human postbox” to receive illicit parcels in exchange for crypto coins was snared when US police intercepted a deadly handgun destined for his home.
Izunna Enechukwu, 30, hoped to study medicine but, after flunking a science degree, spent weeks browsing the dark web looking to supplement his telesales income.
He spotted the opportunity to make money by being a middle-man for illegal imports. But his plans unravelled when a Glock 19 self-loading pistol in 9mm Parabellum calibre, complete with magazines, posted to his Middlesbrough home was intercepted by US police officers.
Enechukwu’s address was passed onto the National Crime Agency (NCA) as American counterparts placed an empty gun box back inside an electrical device the weapon had originally been stashed inside. They then put it in the post.
British police watched Enechukwu’s flat as he answered his door to receive the parcel, before going out to buy some screwdriver so he could get inside the electrical device.
Armed officers from the NCA raided Enechukwu’s flat as he filmed himself excitedly opening the lethal package.
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Enechikwu’s phone contained photos he took of the gun box before sending them to a contact on the criminal’s favoured messaging site Telegram.
Teesside Crown Court was told how detectives unravelled evidence of how Enechikwu had advertised his availability to take in parcels on the dark web and was being paid in Bitcoin.
He was previously 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, when the handgun was posted to him in November of that year.
The court was told other communications found on his phone talked about leaving a previous parcel in a Middlesbrough toilet for someone to collect.
Enechikwu admitted charges of attempting to possess a firearm with intent and 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 was told how Enechikwu moved to England from Ireland when he was five but was now estranged from his family.
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Mitigating, Derek Duffy described his client as “very bright” but said Enechikwu dropped out of his science degree because he “couldn’t deal with the pressure”.
Mr Duffy said his client had been acting as “a postbox”.
Jailing Enechikwu for 62 months, Judge Chris Smith said: “The Glock was fully operational with magazines and a manual. Someone was trying to import a prohibited firearm into this country.
“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.”