Finnish customs track down amphetamine shipment on Tallinn-Helsinki ferry

TALLINN - The Finnish customs authority has tracked down a large-scale amphetamine shipment, where the substance intended for the manufacture of the drug was moving on a ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki, the Estonian daily Postimees writes.

The Finnish customs authority has uncovered an extensive criminal network involved in the smuggling and distribution of amphetamine, according to Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

Eight suspects have been identified in connection with the case -- they are citizens of Finland, Poland and Lithuania. However, not all of the suspects belong to the same criminal organization. Several of them are in custody.

More than half a million euros' worth of amphetamine has been confiscated. According to Finnish customs, one of the suspects was transporting the basic substance intended for making amphetamine, packaged in water bottles, on a ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki.

Approximately 38 kilograms of amphetamine were produced from seven liters of the substance in a rented holiday home in southern Finland in March. According to preliminary information, at least 240,000 euros' worth of the narcotic substance was distributed.

In March, Estonian authorities notified Finnish customs of three Polish citizens who were traveling across the gulf to Finland with equipment and substances that could be linked to possible amphetamine production. The men were detained at the holiday home.

"The activities have been organized and the suspects have played different roles: some have acted as smugglers, some as precipitators, and some as distributors of the finished amphetamine. The suspects used encrypted messaging apps to communicate," Mikko Martikainen, director of the customs authority's investigation department, said in a press release.

According to the customs authority, the preliminary investigation is in its final stages and will soon be handed over to the prosecutor's office.