Postal workers suspected of handling illicit substances

Twelve postal workers in the Äland Islands, an autonomous region of Finland, are suspected of handling illicit pharmaceuticals and substances used for doping.

The Finnish customs authorities told journalists on Monday that "a company in the postal sector in Äland" had received the products from a company registered in the British Channel Islands, stored them and distributed to customers via the internet.

The customs forms included false declarations.

The customs authorities are transferring the cases to the prosecutors, saying that the revenue from the alleged criminal operations amounted to 2.2 million euros in 2015-2016.

The Äland Islands has a "special taxation status" within the European Union. This has made the islands attractive for mail order and internet sales companies for their operations in Europe.

In 2017, the Finnish customs raided the Äland postal depot and Äland Post confirmed to local media that its employees had been questioned by the customs authorities, but were told by the investigators not to talk about it.

The current investigation covers aggravated crimes related to smuggling as well as breaking customs procedures, pharmaceutical regulations, taxation rules and anti-doping regulations.

Talking to national broadcaster Yle, Jussi Gustafsson, the customs official in charge of the investigation, refused to name the company, but said it "operates in the postal sector."

A leading Finnish language newspaper Helsingin Sanomat and the Äland paper Alandstidningen reported on Monday that the company is Äland Post.

Äland Post has been operating separately from the mainland postal service of Finland since 1993.