Law enforcement agencies have uncovered a major drug smuggling operation in Turku, according to the Southwestern Finland Police Department.
Finnish Customs, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the police department have been jointly investigating the case since 2023.
The extensive probe led authorities to suspect that a group of more than 40 individuals were behind a large-scale drug smuggling and distribution operation, led by an individual in Turku.
Police suspect the group imported around seven million euros worth of illegal drugs from Sweden to Finland during 2023-24.
Police suspect more than 40 people of, among other things, aggravated drug crimes, firearms offences and money laundering. Most of the suspects are from the Turku area, but a few are from Sweden and the Helsinki region.
A preliminary investigation led police to suspect the group smuggled 36kg of cocaine, 22kg of amphetamines, 36kg of cannabis and ‘hundreds of thousands’ of illicit pills from Sweden to Finland, according to police.
The preliminary investigation, which was opened in 2024, revealed that the group’s organisation was led from Sweden.
According to police, one of the suspects is a roughly 30-year-old Swedish man who managed and coordinated the drug shipments. He is also suspected of aggravated crimes against life or health, over pressuring a fellow suspect to revise statements initially made to investigators.
Law enforcement officers detained members of the group at Vuosaari Harbour in eastern Helsinki.
According to police, the drugs were mainly smuggled from Sweden to Finland by way of the northern border. Then, the drugs were taken to the Helsinki area and sent to Turku for distribution. Some of the shipments were also sent by post, according to Customs’ lead investigator, Tatu Suvikas.
“Customs seized tens of kilograms of cocaine during 2024 and the first half of 2025. Use and demand [of cocaine] has steadily increased. The cooperation of three agencies helped to achieve the desired outcome — putting an end to the drug organisation’s operations,” Suvikas said in the release.
Among other crimes, authorities said they uncovered a professional money laundering organisation suspected of organising the transfer of the drug sales’ proceeds out of Finland.
A separate preliminary investigation into the money laundering operation is still underway, according to the release.
