A local man is facing a methamphetamine trafficking charge as part of a federal case involving the darknet and undercover agents disguised as postal workers.

Codey Collins, 27, who is linked to addresses in Rochester and Dover, was charged Feb. 14 with attempting to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of meth, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Concord.

Collins’ attorney, federal defender Behzad Mirhashem, couldn’t be immediately reached for comment Friday.

The affidavit filed in U.S. District Court alleges Collins used the encrypted messaging platform Wickr to solicit 1.5 pounds of meth for $5,000 from what he thought was a drug supplier between late March and early April 2019.

In actuality, investigators in Los Angeles had assumed ownership of the Wickr account Collins messaged, “Tenderwoodcock,” according to the affidavit. The investigators were using it as part of an investigation into drug trafficking through the darknet at the time of Collins’ messages.

The affidavit alleges Collins wrote in one of the messages he sent from his “Team603Civic” Wickr account to Tenderwoodcock: “My guys can get rid of a half LB in two to three days, I am confident in my clientele 100%… Because every now and then there is a few days where I have my guys on stand still while I’m waiting for more to come in, if I could keep my main guy consistently stocked you him and myself could make a lot of money.”

Collins allegedly claimed he could resell Tenderwoodcock’s meth in quarter-pound quantities at $3,000 apiece.

Collins also allegedly wrote in another message to Tenderwoodcock: “I only consult with people at least 15/20 years older than me because they know what good business is and how to keep their mouths shut… I listen intently to my elders that’s why I’ve gone this long without ever having a criminal record.”

Collins allegedly sent $5,000 in bitcoin to Tenderwoodcock on April 8, 2019, providing a family member’s address on Pondview Lane in Rochester for the drug shipment, according to the affidavit.

U.S. Postal Inspector Bruce Sweet wrote in the affidavit that law enforcement allegedly used various methods to verify Collins’ identity and his connection to the Pondview Lane address. Those methods included open-source searches of his Facebook page, by running the license plate pictured on a Honda Civic in one of Collins’ Facebook photos, and by locating pornographic videos Collins uploaded of himself and a woman to an undisclosed website.

Sweet wrote in the affidavit that inspectors shipped two parcels containing a “sham substance” to the Pondview Lane address on April 10, 2019. The next day, an undercover inspector disguised as a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier left a delivery notice for both parcels on the home’s front door, which instructed Collins to pick up his packages at Rochester’s post office.

At the time, law enforcement believed Collins was living with his girlfriend on Redden Street in Dover. According to Sweet, law enforcement conducted surveillance at that Redden Street home at the time the delivery notice was left on Pondview Lane. Those officers allegedly witnessed Collins’ girlfriend leave Redden Street around 2:30 p.m., drive to the post office and go into the post office to collect the parcels as Collins waited outside in her vehicle.

“Inspectors provided the two parcels to Postal Service employees and watched as (Collins’ girlfriend) took possession of the parcels from the employees and then leave the post office,” Sweet wrote in his affidavit. “Law enforcement followed (the woman’s) vehicle out of the post office parking lot and then stopped the vehicle several miles away in Somersworth. (The woman) and Collins were identified as the only two occupants of the vehicle.”

After the agents told Collins he wasn’t under arrest, Collins allegedly admitted to law enforcement he used Wickr to purchase the meth from Tenderwoodcock, Sweet wrote.

The affidavit doesn’t indicate what occurred between Collins’ conversation with law enforcement on April 11, 2019, and his arrest on Feb. 14, 2020.

Collins was released after his Feb. 14 arrest, according to court records. Court documents outlining his conditions of release do not contain any information about whether he was released on bail.