Int´l gang smuggles huge drugs into Finland from Estonia, Latvia

A large international organised crime group, consisting mostly of Estonian individuals smuggled hundreds of kilograms of various drugs into Finland in between 2023 and 2025, according to a joint investigation conducted by Police and Customs.

The criminal gang smuggled the drugs, including Alpha-PVP, cocaine, amphetamine, MDMA, ecstasy, marijuana and hashish mainly from Latvia via Estonia, said a press release on Wednesday.

As a result of the suspected crime, the police and customs authorities have questioned dozens of people and apprehended a number of individuals in Finland and abroad.

Seventeen people remain in custody, and three people have been apprehended abroad under European arrest warrants.

During the pretrial investigation, Eastern Uusimaa police and Finnish Customs worked closely with the Northern Prefecture narcotics unit of the Estonian Police, the Central Criminal Police Department of the Latvian State Police and Eurojust.

“Eastern Uusimaa police had earlier investigated extensive criminal activities related to the distribution of Alfa-PVP, which were mainly led by Latvian nationals. The investigation, conducted in cooperation with Customs, was a continuation of these criminal investigations, and the police sought to gain deeper insight into the import organisation,” said lead investigator Tero Tyynelä.

The investigation kicked off through international cooperation and it was noticed that the criminal case was linked to a series of crimes being investigated by Eastern Uusimaa Police Department.

During the investigation, it was found that the organisation’s leadership based in Latvia and Estonia smuggled the drugs into Finland and distributed among the wholesalers operating in Finland.

The organisation’s activities were well-organised and the various actors had clear roles in importation and further distribution.

In addition to the organisation’s leadership, individuals acted as drug smugglers, recipients of contraband consignments, and stashers of drug consignments. Besides these individuals, there were separate drug distribution organisations and individuals who acquired apartments for their activities, as well as individuals who collected criminal proceeds from drug distribution and forwarded them abroad.

The activities were professional, and the organisation sought to ensure that individuals working at different levels did not come into direct contact with each other.

The preliminary investigation also revealed that disciplinary measures within the organisation involved violence against members.

The investigations also showed that the organisation used foot passengers, hidden compartments in vehicles and heavy-duty vehicles to smuggle narcotics to Finland from Latvia via Estonia.

The imported drugs were mainly delivered to stashes in forests in various parts of southern Finland, from where the distribution network picked them up for further distribution.

The distribution network used apartments rented specifically for this purpose in various parts of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area to store and distribute the drugs.

Organisation suspected of having distributed several different narcotic substances

The case has been forwarded to the Prosecution District of Southern Finland for the consideration of charges.