Narcotics offences among youths, new offenders on rise

The total number of narcotics offences and aggravated narcotics offences have increased in the country significantly, said the National Police Board in a press release on Tuesday, referring to an intensified narcotics crime surveillance campaign.

The offences increased particularly among youths and first-time offenders, which worried the police.

The increase was detected in the national intensified narcotics crime surveillance campaign conducted across the country from 31 October to 6 November.

“Police departments have received reports of increased narcotics use among youths over the past year. The surveillance results confirm that this phenomenon is occurring on a national level. While the number of discovered cases is strongly affected by the targeted surveillance and available resources, the trend is worrying”, said Kari Siivo, chief superintendent of the National Police Board.

The intensified narcotics surveillance campaign targeted sales and distribution of narcotics occurring on the streets and in homes.

According to the report of the National Police Board of Finland, 158 cases of narcotics offence and 18 cases of aggravated narcotics offence were recorded during the campaign. The numbers were 140 and 13 respectively in the previous year´s campaign.

A total of 180 cases of unlawful use of narcotics were recorded, which is less than before (196).

The police measures targeted a total of 362 suspects, of which 25 (seven in 2021) were youths and 34 (18 in 2021) were first-time offenders. There are 51 suspected cases of narcotics sales online.

In addition, a total of 49 cases of driving while intoxicated, eight cases of violent crime, and fifteen cases of property crime were discovered.

A total of 151 persons were arrested in connection with suspicions of crime. Police officers were also able to find 163 wanted persons in connection with the surveillance efforts.

For the crimes uncovered and investigated during the campaign, 53 (44 in 2019) requests for fines were and 108 criminal cases were transferred to the public prosecutor.

About five kilogrammes of marijuana, 3.8 kilogrammes of amphetamine, 116 grams of cocaine, as well as over 800 Subutex and about 200 ecstasy tablets were confiscated as part of the surveillance campaign.

About 58,700 euros were confiscated in cash as proceeds of crimes 21 firearms were confiscated.