TALLINN - The Harju County Court has handed down lengthy prison terms to two drug dealers who were arrested last autumn with more than 14 million kroons (895,000 euros) worth of narcotics.
The court found 26-year-old Deniss Zlobin and 22-year-old Oleg Sozonenko guilty of dealing large amounts of narcotics. Zlobin got 13 years and six months in prison while Sozonenko got eight years.
"To be exact, one of them [Zlobin] got 14 years, 8 months and 6 days, because for him [we should consider an] added one year and two months, so in total he got nearly 15 years in prison," said prosecutor Andres Ulviste.
According to the State Prosecutor Office's charges, the Central Criminal Police discovered huge amounts of various narcotics on Sept. 18, 2007. There was more than 72 kilograms of hashish, approximately 1.6 kilograms of cocaine, more than 100 grams of "white Chinese," a type of potent Russian heroin, and around 3.5 kilograms of marijuana.
The drugs would have been worth more than 14 million kroons on the street, consisting of enough substances for 80,000 doses. Police also found facilities that are used to package drugs for street sale.
These things were found in a storage house in Tallinn, a kind of intermediate warehouse.
Most of the drugs were probably intended for export, but at least some would have been sold on the local market.
Police also took around 400,000 kroons (25,565 euros) in cash from the men.
The criminal process was initiated on May 28. Zlobin fully confessed to the charges, while Sozonenko admitted to only some of them.
Zlobin has an extensive criminal record, but Sozonenko hasn't been punished by the court before. Police say these types of crimes are particularly hard to track.
"Drug crimes are hidden crimes. If there's a murder or a robbery then it's clear that there's a victim, there are facts about the crime that police are aware of. But regarding statistics [on drug crimes], there are only as many crimes as we discover," said Ulviste.
Marge Voogma, a prosecutor, on June 17 sent another criminal case to court accusing six men between the ages of 21 and 28 of handling drugs. Their leader, 36-year-old Meelis, is accused of handling large amounts of amphetamines between 2005 and December 2007.
Police also confiscated 45 grams of amphetamines and Meelis' car. Two of the six suspects are in jail, while the other four are under house arrest.
