Chatty convicts concern Finnish, Estonian cops

A year has passed since Finland and Estonia signed a European Union agreement to transfer prisoners in foreign jails to their native countries, but Finland hasn't sent any of the 123 Estonians in its jails back to the Baltic state.

Most of the Estonians are in jail on drug charges and officials in both countries worry that they could strengthen ties with Finnish drug trafficking networks.

The trafficking of drugs - mostly synthetic narcotics like amphetamines - between Estonia and Finland has already reached alarming levels, say law enforcement officials in both countries, and could increase after Estonia joins the EU.

Getting Estonian prisoners out of Finnish jails is one way to slow it down, say officials.

"It would be wise and sound that they would be sent back to Estonia," said Jarmo Littunen, a councilor in the Finnish Ministry of Justice.

"There is a risk that they can make connections here to Finnish criminals, and we don't want that to happen."

Estonian prisoners may apply for transfer back to Estonia, but the government also has the authority to transfer prisoners without their consent, he said. There are only a few Finnish prisoners in Estonian jails serving sentences for drug trafficking because most choose to serve their time in Finland, said Imbi Markos, head of the international judicial cooperation unit of the Estonian Justice Ministry.

"They ask to go back as soon as possible," Markos said.

Each inmate costs the Finnish government about 100 euros a day so it would also be an economic advantage if foreign prisoners were sent to complete sentences in their home countries, Littunen said. This is why this issue came up during August's budgetary sessions, he said.

But the process of transferring the prisoners takes months and involves a lot of administrative work, so authorities have not rushed to send them home, Littunen said.

"It's not an economic question, it really doesn't cost anything to transfer them. It's more a goal to get more Estonian prisoners back home, but only a goal," he said. "We are working on it, but I don't see any radical changes."

Meanwhile, Estonian and Finnish law enforcement officials continue to cooperate in the fight against synthetic drugs trafficking, which has been increasing in Estonia since the mid-1990s.

"The amount of drugs crossing the borders is rising," said Aare Evisalu, chief of staff of the Estonian Board of Border Guards.

Recently offenders caught at the border have been carrying larger amounts of drugs. But the number of people caught has dropped. Evisalu said this meant that the criminal organizations behind the trade were becoming stronger and more efficient.

Although many people see Estonia's accession to the EU as an opportunity for more amphetamines to enter Western Europe, Jarmo Orola, head of the southern unit of Finnish customs, said the first few years of Estonia's membership would actually make drug trafficking more difficult.

For a few years after expansion, Estonia will be connected to all of the EU's information-sharing systems, but border guards and customs agents will still control the border. It is only after the expansion of the Schengen agreement, which does away with passport control and allows people to move freely between EU countries, that drug-trafficking may become easier, he said. That's not expected to happen in Estonia until at least 2007, EU officials said.

According to Europol, about 80 percent of the world's synthetic drugs are made in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Most of these drugs stay within the EU, according to a 2002 report by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, or EMCDDA, based in Lisbon. Amphetamine and its derivatives, Ecstasy and methamphetamine, are the most popular type of drugs after marijuana used within the EU, according to the EMCDDA.

While Estonia's admission to the EU may not dramatically alter the number of synthetic drugs available in Europe, EU officials working on accession are still concerned about the growing amount of amphetamine produced in such a small country, said Timo Jetsu, a member of the EU's Drugs Coordination Unit in Brussels. Considering its size, "Estonia plays a significant role" in the production of amphetamine, he said.

According to the United Nations, about 27 kilograms of amphetamine were seized in Estonia in 2001. The same report said that 141 kilograms of the drug were seized that year in Poland - five times less per capita than in Estonia.

This year, there have already been 28.5 kilograms of amphetamine seized in Estonia, said Indrek Raudjalg, a spokesman for the Estonian Police Board.

Authorities only found about 16 kilograms of the drug in 2000. The amount seized probably represents about 10 percent of the total amount manufactured in Estonia, Raudjalg said.

EU officials said the increased production of drugs mostly affected the Finnish market, which relies heavily on amphetamine produced here.

"Drug trafficking from Estonia to Finland is a major problem from a Finnish perspective," said Michal Krejza, head of the European Commission's delegation in Tallinn. "But if you compare it to all the drug traffic between East and West in general, then it is actually very limited.

"This is a problem that should not be exaggerated because in absolute terms, it's not dramatic. It's only dramatic to the Finns."

Fighting cross-border drug trade is only one aspect of the fight against the narcotic market, Finnish and Estonian officials said.

"It's one procedure to stop drugs on the border," Evisalu said. "But very often it's not the best because we stop only the carriers and the organizations stay in tact."

That is why other measures, such as more help from police and keeping drug offenders from collaborating in jail are important, said Orola, of Finnish customs.

"These drug criminals do make themselves familiar with each other in prison," he said. "So moving Estonian ones out of Finnish jails would help a little bit.