Police have concluded a pre-trial investigation into a group of smugglers they suspect of importing 13kg of cocaine into Finland from the Netherlands. Police said they seized more than 800g of cocaine during the probe.
Police suspect that the cocaine was smuggled from the Netherlands to the southern Finnish city of Tampere. The drug was mainly distributed in Tampere, but some reached the capital region, according to Chief Inspector Jari Räty of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Seventeen individuals are under suspicion of involvement in the operation, while 16 are suspected of distributing the narcotic.
Police said a Dutch citizen was detained in October after the individual was found with 833 grams of cocaine and 30,000 euros in cash. After that, police then detained a Finnish national thought to be smuggling operation’s ringleader.
So far during the preliminary investigation, a total of five suspects were remanded into custody, while two others were remanded in absentia.
