Mitchell Charles Connor-Dagg (left) and Daniel Patrick McKechnie appear for sentencing in the Dunedin District Court. Photo ODT

A Dunedin student has been jailed for seven years for importing methamphetamine and ''a whole supermarket of class A, B and C drugs'' with a street value of about $167,000.

And another man, one of several persuaded to open post boxes in fictitious names for delivery of the drugs, has been given three years' jail.

The student, Daniel Patrick McKechnie (21), and Mitchell Charles Connor-Dagg (20), were both sentenced by Judge Kevin Phillips in the Dunedin District Court today.

McKechnie earlier admitted 18 charges of importing, selling, supplying and offering to supply a variety of illegal drugs during the 12 months from January last year to January this year, eight of the offences being committed while he was on bail for 11 other drug importing and dealing charges from earlier last year.

Connor-Dagg was for sentence on five charges of being a party to importing methamphetamine and ecstasy by opening post boxes late last year.

While McKechnie claimed to have been importing drugs for his addiction, the reality was he was offending because of the addiction and was selling drugs on the street, Judge Phillips said.

Connor-Dagg also had a drug-addiction and associated with people who used drugs. But he was lucky to have strong family support. He also had youth and intelligence on his side, as did McKechnie, and it was to be hoped the time spent in prison would see the drug cycle broken for both offenders.

Neither offender seemed to have any appreciation of what the drugs they were importing were going to do to the people they supplied, Judge Phillips told McKechnie and Connor-Dagg. Neither did they think about the effects their continued involvement in the offending would have for themselves and their families.

An aggravating factor in McKechnie's case was the later offending while on bail with strict terms.

''You breached those terms over and over again. But you went further and involved other people in serious drug offending,'' the judge said.