Customs seized almost one kilogram of cocaine brought in inside a person’s body

During autumn 2024, Customs has investigated an aggravated narcotics offence, where a person brought in almost one kilogram of cocaine inside his body to Finland. The street value of the seized cocaine would have been as high as 150 000 euros.

The attempted import of narcotics was revealed in a customs control at Helsinki Airport in September 2024. During the control, it was discovered that the person, a middle-aged man with foreign background, had swallowed 100 cocaine capsules of around 10 grams each. Customs seized a total of 998 grams of cocaine from the person.

Kimmo Jauhiainen, the investigator in charge of the case, emphasises that bringing in narcotics inside the body is always extremely risky and, in the worst case, may even cause death.

“All the cocaine capsules were got out of the person’s body safely, but he still developed serious complications, which required a long hospital stay,” says Jauhiainen.

Customs’ narcotics seizures have increased considerably during 2024. In the period January–September this year, Customs has seized roughly 44 kilograms of cocaine, which is triple the amount seized last year.

The case has been investigated as an aggravated narcotics offence. The preliminary investigation is about to be completed and, in the next few days, the case will be forwarded to the Prosecution District of Southern Finland for consideration of charges.