Most members of criminal organisations are suspected of individual crimes

Central Criminal Police: Russian criminals are infiltrating Finnish business life

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The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Finland's central criminal police, suspects around 65 percent of the known members of organised criminal gangs of having committed various crimes. This was the portion under criminal investigation of the just under 1,000 members of known crime organisations in Finland last year, the NBI annual report reveals.
     
In 2005, police filed around 2,000 crimes that were suspected of having been carried out by members of various criminal organisations. The spectrum of felonies varied from property and economic crimes to drug-related and violent offences.
      Economic crime, in particular, with receipt manufacturing and concealed salaries, has started to interest criminal organisations more and more because of its considerable profit potential.
     
The general image of the organised crime has not changed dramatically in recent years, the NBI report suggests.
      Its activities, however, are becoming more professional, wider, and more international. Threats against witnesses and officials have also increased. Cramped conditions in the nation's prisons have also aided the criminals' networking and made recruiting new members easier.
      In the public eye, most attention centres on organisations with visible insignia, such as motorcycle gangs. According to the NBI, however, most professional criminal organisations aim to keep their activities below the radar.
      In all, the police were aware of a total of 79 criminal organisations, 37 of which were under investigation.
      Thirty-five of these groups fulfilled the EU criteria for organised crime. This means they were long-term organisations with a low turnover of members.
      The average investigation time for crimes committed by such groups was just under a year.
     
Most of the members of the criminal organisations known by the police were Finns. A majority of the 15-percent share of foreign members came from Russia and Estonia.
      Russian organised crime continues its infiltration into Finnish business life, the NBI has noticed. It strengthens its hold of the freight transport, forwarding, and logistics enterprises. In trafficking across the eastern border the main goal is to avoid taxes.
      According to the NBI, such companies are well aware of the investigation and information gathering principles used by the officials.
      "The range of means of investigation available to the authorities needs constant updating in the rapidly changing operating environment", the annual report observes.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish and Russian police agree on cooperation against organised crime (14.10.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat