Drug smuggling to Finland rises alarmingly

A considerable increase in the quantities of narcotics entering Finland, according to the crime statistics of Finnish Customs.

The total societal impact of customs crime prevention already amounts to more than 90 million euros this year, said Customs in a press release on Friday referring to the statistics.

In the period January–September this year, Customs has already seized more than 830 kg of marijuana, which is almost twice the total amount seized last year.

Seizures of cocaine amount to roughly 44 kg, which is triple the amount seized last year, and seizures of amphetamine to 94 kg, increasing by half from last year. As a rule, the seized cocaine is of high purity.

“We are very concerned about the almost exponential rise in the seizures of narcotic substances in the current year. Based on our observations, there has been a considerable increase in the seizures of traditional narcotics, designer drugs and narcotic medicines as well as snus, tobacco and doping substances. The smugglers have also been finding new trafficking routes, with more narcotics being brought into Finland via Sweden,” said Hannu Sinkkonen, Director of Enforcement of Finnish Customs.

New designer drugs are constantly being developed and sold especially on the dark web – Customs has encountered nine new narcotic substances this year

This year, Customs has found nine completely new narcotic substances that have not been encountered before in Finland. Last year, Customs found some ten new designer substances.

New designer drugs keep on emerging, as new variants are replacing the designer drugs that have already been classified as narcotics. The previous narcotic substance is slightly altered, and again, a new substance is created. An example of these designer drugs is alpha-PVP, and especially its various derivatives, including alpha-PHP and alpha-PHiP, the seizures of which have been considerable larger this year than those of alpha-PVP proper.

Designer drugs are typically bought on the dark web, and therefore, the capability of the authorities to close marketplaces operating there is significant from an enforcement perspective.

“Customs has had an important role in uncovering these marketplaces for years already. Most recently, we took down the Sipulitie marketplace on the dark web in a joint effort with the Swedish Police and Europol during this autumn,” Sinkkonen added.

There was a significant drop in the smuggled quantities of snus when the sale of nicotine pouches was deregulated in 2023, but this year, the trend has turned. There has also been a considerable rise in the smuggling of cigarettes.

In January–September this year, Customs has already seized more than 4,500 kg of illegally imported snus, when a total of about 850 kg of snus was seized in the whole of last year. Well over 5 million cigarettes were seized in January–September, compared to a total of 2.75 million cigarettes last year.

“The societal impact of customs crime prevention has once again been on a high level this year. In January–September, our crime prevention has already recovered more than 90 million euros for society. More than 35 million euros of this sum consists of criminal proceeds, that is money or other assets, recovered directly to the state,” Sinkkonen added.