Customs’ narcotics seizures clearly surpassed last year’s figures already in the autumn – dramatic rise in seizures of marijuana, amphetamine and cocaine

The crime statistics of Finnish Customs show a considerable increase in the quantities of narcotics entering Finland. Customs has already seized 122 different narcotic substances this year. Nine of these substances are completely new designer drugs that have never been encountered before in Finland. So far this year, significantly higher quantities of marijuana, amphetamine and cocaine have already been seized compared to the total quantities last year – the same trend is seen with snus, cigarettes and doping substances. The total societal impact of customs crime prevention already amounts to more than 90 million euros this year.

“The changes in the operating environment have also had a significant impact on the role and responsibilities of Finnish Customs among the other authorities. As a key crime prevention and security authority, we work to secure cross-border traffic and to combat customs offences. The international cooperation that Customs undertakes in supervising cross-border traffic, in crime prevention and in its other tasks relating to security, is very significant. The close PCB cooperation between the national authorities also plays a key role in the enforcement and crime prevention work,” says Samy Gardemeister, Director of the Enforcement Department

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,” says Hannu Sinkkonen, Director of Enforcement.

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 emphasises.

Considerable rise in illegal imports of snus and cigarettes

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.

“This year, the quantities of snus imported illegally have again started rising steeply. By the end of September, we have already seized a quadruple amount of snus compared to the total amount seized last year. A similar growth trend is also seen in the illegal imports of cigarettes, although Finland’s border with Russia, that is, the traditional smuggling route, is now closed. Our fear is that the cigarette smuggling will continue to grow, as the common experience is that a hike in tobacco duty will have a clear effect on the amounts of cigarette seized,” Sinkkonen says.

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.

More than 90 million euros recovered for society through custom crime prevention this year

The EU’s sanctions against Russia and the investigations they entail means a lot of work for Customs. With the closure of the Finnish-Russian border, petty regulation offences have all but dwindled, but the numbers of the standard and aggravated regulation offences have remained at the same level as last year. Violations of the goods sanctions imposed by the EU against Russia are usually investigated as regulation offences.

“In addition to the regulation offences, our economic crime investigators are also kept busy with various complex investigations of economic crime that are undertaken in cooperation with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). These so-called EPPO investigations typically involve close international cooperation and are often of a long duration. At the moment, we have about ten EPPO investigations underway, but their numbers also appear to be on the rise,” says Sinkkonen.

“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 sums up.