THE police of Finland announced today that it has disbanded drug trafficking network linked to Swedish organized crime, at a time when the government is sounding the alarm about organized crime in the country. “Helsinki police and the national Bureau of Investigation uncovered … an extensive international drug-trafficking organization,” police said in a statement.
According to the investigation, this organization had transported over 300 kg of various drugs, such as cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy pills and cannabis, to Finland in trucks. The police seized more than 100 kilograms of these substances. Thirty people were arrested, of which 17 remain in custody, according to the police. The suspects are mostly born in the 1990s and early 2000s and of various nationalities, including Swedish, British, Somali, Serbian, Norwegian, Iraqi, Ukrainian and Finnish.
Earlier this year, police reported seeing cooperation between Swedish professional gangs and Finnish criminal street gangs.
“It is a new phenomenon to see Swedish organized crime to be so involved in the Finnish drug trade,” the police had pointed out.
Cracking down on criminal organizations was a major issue in the election campaign for the parties that formed the right-wing coalition that came to power in June.
“This government has recognized that the rise of youth crime and organized crime is a serious problem,” Finnish Interior Minister Marie Radtanen said in August, adding that the government plans a series of measures until the end of 2023 to stem the rise. Although Finland regularly tops the list of the world’s happiest countries, it has one of the highest rates in the European Union for drug-related youth deaths.
From 2006 to 2021, the number of drug-related deaths in Finland has more than doubled, with 287 deaths in 2021, with opioids becoming the most commonly used drug. Last week, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson spoke of a reinforcement of the police force by the military in order to put an end to escalating gang violence.
According to data from Swedish state broadcaster SVT, 12 people died in shootings and explosions in September, the deadliest month in four years. In 2022, Sweden recorded 391 shooting incidents, of which 62 were fatal.
Source: News Beast
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