Smuggling of sports doping substances into Finland increasing
Customs officials want clear guidelines on imports of prescription drugs
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Finnish customs authorities are calling for precise limits on imports of prescription drugs that can be used as sports doping substances.
Customs agents at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport uncovered a total of 72 doping substance crimes last year, six of which were classified as aggravated.
All of the six most serious crimes involved import attempts by arriving passengers. None of the suspects were well-known sports figures.
Chief Customs inspector Mika Pitkäniemi says that the large number of cases of attempted smuggling of doping substances is a new phenomenon. "Normally Finland gets small consignments of doping substances via air mail or as air freight. Now many couriers are being caught at the airport, carrying large amounts of substances intended for sale", Pitkäniemi says.
In some cases the smugglers had more than 10,000 hormone ampules or tablets in their checked luggage.
According to Pitkäniemi, the smuggling of sport doping substances is a lucrative business with profit margins of up to 20 times the original price.
He says that the typical smuggler is a man under the age of 30 who is in good physical condition.
Customs officials say that the line between legal and illegal importation of substances with sports doping potential is hazy. Officials would like the kinds of clear limits that exist with medicines classified as intoxicants.
A person importing a drug that can be used for sports doping must have a doctor’s prescription, and the substance itself must be legally available in the country in which it was bought. The maximum permissible amount to be imported into Finland is determined on the basis of a daily dose indicated in the prescription, or in the instructions on the packaging itself.
"The problem is that the doctor who has written the prescription might be Chinese or Thai, and the prescription might be written in the doctor’s mother tongue. They write the prescriptions that the customer wants. The daily dose indicated in the prescription can be many times that which is common in Finland", Pitkäniemi says.
It is up to the prosecutor to evaluate if the amount in a particular case can be considered a crime.
In 2002 the government issued a decree establishing guidelines under which a person may import medicines for personal use. The limit for imports from within the European Economic Area is a year’s supply, and outside the EEA, it is three months.
The law is considerably stricter for medicines that can be used as intoxicants, which can only be imported on the basis of a prescription written in the person’s country of residence.
The most popular countries of origin of sports doping substances, typically anabolic steroids or growth hormones, are India and Thailand. In Europe, Greece and Spain are the most common countries of origin.
Aggravated sports doping crimes carry sentences of between four months and four years imprisonment.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 29.1.2007 - TODAY |
 Smuggling of sports doping substances into Finland increasing
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