Estonian man remanded over large cocaine case

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An Estonian man in his thirties, who is the third suspect in the large cocaine smuggling operation uncovered by the Southern Customs District in late 2006, has been caught in Finland and remanded for trial, reports Head of Investigations Tiina Tahvanainen from Finnish Customs.
      As a consequence, the main hearing of the two other suspects, which was supposed to begin at the Helsinki District Court on Wednesday, was postponed and a new date was scheduled for late June.
      "The pre-trial investigation for the third man is still at an early stage", says Tahvanainen.
     
In addition to the third man just arrested, another Estonian man in his thirties and a middle-aged Finnish man are believed to have been involved in the smuggling operation.
      Customs suspect that the men brought in at least 2.5 kilos of cocaine over the course of last autumn. The street value of the drug is estimated at about EUR 330,000.
      In December, customs authorities confiscated one kilo of cocaine from the Finnish man. In addition, during a house search in his home, a digital scale was found, as well as EUR 4,500 in cash, and zip-lock bags containing traces of cocaine, all hidden in the ceiling.
     
The authorities’ suspicions were aroused when they noticed that two Estonian men with a drug background were in the habit of travelling to Finland at the same time using different routes.
      One of the two would arrive in Helsinki from Tallinn, and the other would come to Hanko by ferry from another European country.
      In mid-December, one of the Estonian men arrived in Hanko again, after which he met a Finnish man in the centre of Helsinki. According to customs officials, the Estonian gave the Helsinki man a backpack, and received an envelope from him in return. The two were immediately arrested and taken into custody, while the third man did not appear on the scene, managing to elude the officials until recently.
      The backpack contained two thermos bottles with a total of one kilo of cocaine. The envelope contained money.
      All three suspects are known to have a drug background.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Sharp increase in cocaine seizures last year (23.3.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat