Estonian court hands long jail sentences to drug traffickers

TALLINN – The Parnu County Court in a plea bargain on Tuesday handed long jail sentences to a man and a woman, who brought approximately five kilograms of narcotics to Estonia via Latvia.

On June 16, a Volvo vehicle arrived in Estonia from Latvia, in which the police found nearly five kilograms of powder containing narcotic substances. 4,700 grams of powder contained 893 grams of amphetamine and 246 grams of powder contained 0.11 grams of carfentanyl and 12.3 grams of methadone. Had it reached the streets in Estonia, it could have caused intoxication for over 80,000 people.

"The court sentenced the 23-year-old man to six years and the 23-year-old woman to five and half years in prison. After serving their sentence, they will be expelled from the country and a ban on entering Estonia will be established for 10 years. Hopefully this is enough time for the accused and others facing similar temptation to make the right choice and not associate themselves with a crime that seriously threatens people's lives and their own future," State Prosecutor Liisa Nuut said.

According to her, criminals use any powder they can get their hands on to dilute the narcotics. "Thus, when consuming a narcotic substance, one may unknowingly consume all kinds of flour, ground animal food, creatine, washing powder or even toxic substances so that there is a stronger impression of the effect of the narcotic substance," Nuut said.

"Nothing else shows the danger of carfentanyl more clearly than the fact that 893 grams of pure amphetamine is enough for the intoxication of nearly 6,900 people, but only 0.11 grams of carfentanyl is enough to cause intoxication for altogether 73,000 people. This is also the reason why we fight so fervently against these substances making it onto the streets -- every little miscalculation when dosing or choosing the wrong powder when diluting the substance can turn out to be someone's fatal dose," the state prosecutor said.