Maximum sentences in major drugs case

Dent in drug market short-lived

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Helsinki District Court handed down sentences of 13 years imprisonment to two brothers in a criminal case involving the smuggling of thousands of kilos of illegal drugs. The sentence is the maximum punishment for drug crimes in Finland.
      A total of 14 of the 22 defendants were given non-suspended prison sentences. Three were acquitted.
      The maximum sentences were given to 32-year-old Timo Tapio Hartikainen and 37-year-old Algot Niska, formerly Ari Antero Hartikainen.
      Kimmo Juhana Taina, age 40, was sentenced to 11 years. His cooperation with the authorities during the investigation was seen as a mitigating factor, resulting in a slightly lower jail term.
      The maximum sentence for a single count of an aggravated drug crime is ten years in prison. Up to three more years can be given if there is more than one count involved.
     
The court found that the organisation had imported well over two tonnes of hashish (cannabis resin) and well over ten kilos of cocaine. The prosecution estimated that there had been more cannabis, but was not able to prove it in court.
      Most of the drugs were imported from The Netherlands between 2002 and 2007. Some of the hashish was transported by lorry in consignments of up to hundreds of kilos.
      The drugs were delivered mainly through hideaways in forests around the Helsinki region. Cash was also found in the forest stashes.
      Members of the organisation were also ordered to forfeit more than EUR 7 million in profit from their activities.
     
Police estimate that the drug organisation whose members were convicted and sentenced on Wednesday controlled up to a quarter of the hashish market in the Helsinki region at one time.
      Juha Piippo of the Helsinki drug police says that when the arrests were made in May, it led to a shortage of cannabis on the illegal drug market in the region. However, the market has since recovered.
      Piippo noted that no matter how big a gang is taken out of the game, sooner or later there will be new entrepreneurs, and the supply of drugs returns to what it was before.
      Two kilos of cocaine were also confiscated in connection with the case. "Since then, there have hardly been any seizures of cocaine", Piippo says.
      The police do not know how much of the cocaine market in the Helsinki region the league had under its control. Police say that cocaine has become a more common drug of choice in Finland, and is no longer restricted to small circles.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Criminal investigation of activities of Vantaa Drug Police and NBI (12.2.2008)
  Police bust massive drug ring in Helsinki region (29.9.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat