Finnish-Estonian drug ring busted

Cooperation between Estonian and Finnish police led to the recent seizure of about 100 kilograms of hashish and broke up what is thought to be a drug trafficking ring operating in the two countries.

Police reported June 19 that they arrested 10 people in connection with the seizure, the culmination of two months of joint investigation.

Police say those arrested were part of a trafficking ring that had been smuggling drugs from Estonia to Finland for at least 18 months.

According to police, Estonian members of the ring smuggled the hashish from Spain to Estonia and then on to Finland, where their Finnish counterparts sold it.

Police also recovered 4 kilograms of amphetamines.

The estimated street value of the hashish and amphetamines is $900,000, according to police.

Kalev Mottus, head of the anti-drug department of Estonia's Border Guards, who helped the Finnish police to track the criminals, said the gang had been operating for some time and conducted business in a "grand style."

Following the arrests, joint cooperation between the police in Estonia and Finland will not end, according to Finnish Deputy Police Chief Martii Salmela.

He said stemming the flow of drugs from Estonia, which police say is a major transshipment point to Scandinavia, had become a priority.

A special police unit known as FinEsto was formed in 2000 to combat trafficking.

"The investigation of bringing drugs into Finland and their stockpiling here is continuing," he said.

Estonia has also stepped up its efforts to fight drug trafficking as it prepares for European Union membership.

The joint operation was the second this year that resulted in arrests related to the increasingly infamous drugs flow between Estonia and Finland.

In February, Finnish police arrested 11 Finns in connection with drug trafficking who were allegedly members of a narcotics ring guided from Estonia.

Meanwhile, Estonian authorities continue to make arrests locally.

On June 20 Estonia's Central Criminal Police charged three people with drug possession and trafficking.

All three were identified only by their first names. Pavel, 33, Jelena, 24, and Viktoria, 18, all from the town of Paldiski were arrested in Tallinn earlier in the month with 30 grams of synthetic heroin with a street value of $18,000, and police later found drug paraphernalia at Pavel's apartment.

All three were released on bail.