A young drug dealer who only just avoided a prison sentence for importing millions of dollars worth of drugs had “many advantages” in life, a judge says.
Rowan David Harrie Hewitson imported up to nearly $6 million worth of ketamine and MDMA, most of which arrived in the country labelled as consignments of baby food and pain-reducing heat belts.
The now-21-year-old has been sentenced to home detention for the serious offending, having been staring down the barrel of a five-year, five-month prison starting point.
He appeared in the Wellington District Court today, having pleaded guilty to importing class B and C drugs - ketamine and MDMA - supplying and offering to supply LSD, a class A drug, possessing MDMA for supply, and failing to carry out obligations in relation to a computer search.
Hewitson, who was aged 18 and 19 at the time of the offending, was living between his parents’ homes in Wilton, Wellington and Waikanae, Kāpiti when he began offending, Judge Jan Kelly said.
The drug packages were intercepted in a joint investigation between the police and Customs called Operation Reheat, the summary of facts said.
Between August 2022 and November 2023 Hewitson imported 36 packages - addressed to fake people at locations near his home - containing 13.7kg of ketamine. Of those packages, 20 were intercepted by police.
Most of the packages were declared as being some variation of a “deep heat warming belt for pain relief”, and a handful of others were declared to be baby food or other miscellaneous items.
On one occasion Hewitson arrived at one of the houses and asked an occupant if his package had been wrongly delivered to her property. She refused to hand it over as it was addressed to a female, and she recognised Hewitson from previous incidents where he said his package had been delivered to her house.
“The defendant pleaded with the occupants to hand over his package. An occupant took a photograph of the defendant and threatened to call the police if he did not leave. Eventually, the defendant left, and the occupants reported the incident to police,” the summary said.
Ketamine typically retails between $150-$400 per gram with the most common prices found in the $200-$300 per gram range. The estimated street value of the imported ketamine ranged from $2.2-5.88 million if sold by the gram, the summary said. The MDMA had an estimated street value of nearly $150,000.
The summary also described an incident where Hewitson sold a 200-tab sheet of LSD to someone in Wellington, and detailed an attempt to sell more.
Police executed a search warrant at Hewitson’s Wilton home, smashing their way through a glass front door when he refused to allow officers inside. While they were forcing their way in, he flushed ketamine down the toilet.
During the search of that home and the Waikanae property, police found $73,000 in cash.
In court today, Judge Kelly referred to the pre-sentence report, in which Hewitson told probation staff he was suffering from mental health challenges during the Covid lockdowns and had turned to online gaming as a coping mechanism.
“Through these online interactions you became aware of an app called Discord where you began ordering drugs from,” the judge said.
“You said you were an introvert and you were isolating yourself in your bedroom, which allowed you to use drugs daily for approximately two years with no concerns.”
He said he was taking three doses of ketamine a day at the peak of his addiction. His addiction fed the offending, but the money he was making began to be a driver as well.
Since his arrest, Hewitson has taken part in rehabilitative programmes and counselling, and has said he plans to engage with Narcotics Anonymous. He told probation he was committed to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and has been working towards personal trainer qualifications. He has also completed voluntary community service.
Judge Kelly said Hewitson had expressed gratitude for his stable upbringing, opportunities and access to quality education.
“Unlike many, many people who appear before me, you did not experience any abuse, physical or sexual, as a child, or other systemic causes of offending, such as being brought up in a gang-related family or in poverty. To the contrary, you had many advantages.
“I do, however, accept that the separation of your parents had some impact and through your teenage years you were isolated and you say you were bullied and isolated within the school environment. You say as a coping mechanism you turned to drugs as well as other escapist behaviour.”
A psychologist’s report suggested the drug dealing may have made Hewitson feel useful to his peer group and increased his social connections. The benefits of the offending, including “extensive financial gain”, would have helped him ignore the risks of his actions.
Judge Kelly adopted a starting sentencing point of five years and five months.
Defence lawyer Marie Dyhrberg, KC, proposed discounts for his guilty plea, youth, remorse and attempts to make amends, previous good character, rehabilitative efforts, and personal background factors. Her suggested discounts amounted to 85% of the total sentence.
Judge Kelly did not agree with some of the suggested discounts, instead reducing them to 65% total, leaving a substitute of home detention available.
“I am persuaded by a very fine margin that a sentence of home detention could meet the purposes of denunciation and deterrence, which in my view are required, given your very serious offending, as well as addressing your rehabilitation and reintegration,” she said.
She sentenced him to 10 months of home detention and 200 hours of community work.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.