Narcotics offences rise in Jan-June

The number of narcotics offences increased in the country in the first half of this year compared to that in the corresponding period of 2016, according to the Statistics Finland.

A total of 12,800 crimes related to the narcotics were recorded in January to June 2017, posting 3.5 per cent rise from January to June in the year before.

The number of aggravated narcotics offences went up by 3.8 per cent. A total of 600 of them were recorded. Close on two out of three narcotics offences are use offences.

The recorded number was 7,800, which is 180 cases more than in the first half of 2016.

Meanwhile, the number of drunken driving was 8,500 in January to June 2017, which is 0.6 per cent up from that in the corresponding period in 2016.

About 40 per cent of the recorded drunken driving cases were aggravated ones. A total of 3,400 aggravated drunken driving cases were recorded, which is 5.6 per cent down from one year ago.

Other drunken driving cases increased by 5.3 per cent.

The reform of fine legislation on 1 December 2016 affects the updating of statistics on criminal offences especially in terms of traffic offences. Fines from automatic traffic control are updated into the system with a delay of around 60 days.