VZCZCXRO9242
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHHE #0429/01 3201446
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161446Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY HELSINKI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5276
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 HELSINKI 000429 
 
SIPDIS 
DEPT FOR INL/JLYLE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PREL PGOV KCRM FI
SUBJECT: FINLAND: 2009-2010 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS 
CONTROL STATEGY REPORT - PART I 
 
REF: STATE 97228 
 
HELSINKI 00000429  001.2 OF 006 
 
 
¶I. Summary 
 
Finland is not a significant narcotics-producing or 
trafficking country.  Drug use and drug-related crime 
rates have been mixed over the past four years, 
although there was significant increase in only one of 
the classes of narcotics seized in 2008 - 
pharmaceutical preparations classified as narcotics. 
Finnish officials describe the situation as generally 
stable.  Finland's constitution places a strong 
emphasis on the protection of civil liberties and this 
sometimes adversely impacts law enforcement's ability 
to investigate and prosecute drug-related crime.  The 
use of electronic surveillance under the Finnish 
Coercive Measures Act, such as wiretapping, is 
generally permitted in serious narcotics 
investigations.  The police may carry out a simplified 
pre-trial investigation in cases where the statutory 
punishment for the offence/s is restricted to a fine or 
maximum of six months imprisonment (e.g. unlawful use 
of narcotics).  In a simplified pre-trial investigation 
the questioning and other aspects of the investigation 
can often be performed at the place that the offence 
was committed in order to target investigation 
resources towards more serious offences.  Finnish 
political culture tends to favor the allocation of 
resources to demand reduction and rehabilitation 
efforts over strategies aimed at reducing supply. 
Finnish law enforcement believes that increased drug 
use in Finland may be attributable to the wider 
availability of narcotics within the European Union, 
increased experimentation by Finnish youth and cultural 
de-stigmatization of narcotics use. 
 
While there is some overland narcotics trafficking 
across the Russian border, Finnish law enforcement 
believes that existing border controls are largely 
effective in preventing this route from becoming a 
major trafficking conduit into Finland.  Estonian and 
Russian organized crime syndicates, and to a lesser 
degree, syndicates from other Baltic countries, are 
believed responsible for most narcotics trafficking 
into Finland.  Estonia's accession to the Schengen 
Treaty has complicated law enforcement efforts to 
combat narcotics trafficking through the reduction in 
border checks of the nearly 5.8 million annual 
travelers and 900,000 cars, which transit between 
Helsinki and Tallinn.  Early indications that increased 
numbers of direct flights to Asia would result in Asian 
criminal syndicates becoming more involved with the 
Finnish drug trade have not played out. 
 
Finland is a major donor to the UNDCP and is active in 
counternarcotics efforts within the EU.  It is a party 
to the 1988 UN Drug Convention.  Finland maintains 
strong law enforcement and customs relationships with 
its Baltic neighbors, the European Union and Russia - 
these close ties have been very helpful in combating 
the production and trafficking of narcotics in the 
region. 
 
II. Status of Country 
 
Narcotics production, cultivation, and the production 
of precursor chemicals in Finland are very modest in 
scope. Most drugs that are consumed in Finland are 
produced elsewhere, and Finland is not a source country 
for the export of narcotics.  Estonia, Russia and Spain 
are Finland's principal sources for illicit drugs, with 
Spain representing the origin point within the EU for 
most cocaine entering Finland.  Finnish law 
criminalizes the distribution, sale and transport of 
narcotics; the Government of Finland cooperates with 
other countries and international law enforcement 
organizations regarding extradition and precursor 
chemical control. 
 
The overall incidence of drug use in Finland remains 
low (relative to many other western countries); 
however, drug use has increased over the past decade. 
The number of different persons suspected of narcotics 
offenses in 2008 was 4,543, which represented 8.6 
percent of the 5.2 million person population.  Cocaine 
is rare, but marijuana, khat, amphetamines, 
methamphetamine, synthetic club drugs, Ecstasy, LSD, 
and heroin and heroin-substitutes can be found. 
Finland has historically had one of Europe's lowest 
cannabis-use rates.  Cannabis seizures have been mixed 
since 2003, with total numbers of seizures in several 
 
HELSINKI 00000429  002.2 OF 006 
 
 
areas increasing, yet with total quantities of cannabis 
seized having decreased. In 2008, the Finnish 
authorities seized 56 kg of Marijuana and 41 kg of 
cannabis plants.  Ecstasy, GHB, Ketamine (Vitamin K) 
and other MDMA-type drugs are concentrated among young 
people and associated with the club culture in Helsinki 
and other large cities.  Social Welfare authorities 
believe the introduction of GHB and other date rape 
drugs into Finland has led to an increase in sexual 
assaults. Changing social and cultural attitudes 
towards the acceptance of limited drug use also 
contribute to this phenomenon. 
 
Heroin use began to increase in Finland in the late 
1990s, but seizures have continued to decline since 
¶2003. The quantity of seized heroin has remained small 
for several years.  With the exception of a 51.7 kg 
seizure of heroin in 2005, seizures have never been 
larger than (and consistently smaller than) 1.6 kg 
since 2003. Typically, heroin is smuggled by ethnic 
groups residing in Scandinavia using vehicles.  They 
pass by way of Germany and Denmark to the rest of 
Scandinavia. 
 
Abuse of Subutex (buprenorphine) and other heroin- 
substitutes seems to have replaced heroin abuse to a 
significant extent.  Finnish officials note that 
Finland is one of few countries reporting that people 
become addicted from Subutex use.  Possession of 
Subutex is legal in Finland with a doctor's 
prescription, but Finnish physicians do not readily 
write prescriptions for Subutex unless patients are 
actually in a supervised withdrawal program.  Finnish 
couriers do obtain Subutex from other EU countries, 
however.  A major change occurred at the end of 2007 
when the Baltic countries joined the Schengen area. 
This means that a person who resides principally in 
Finland is no longer allowed to import Subutex 
prescribed elsewhere.  Finnish officials have not seen 
a significant move to heroin now that Subutex is not as 
readily available from the Baltic countries.  The size 
of Subutex seizures by the Finnish customs has remained 
consistent over the last five years. 
 
Finnish Customs recorded 94 firearm violations, 
approximately the same amount as in the previous 
reporting period.  There was a total of 125 weapons 
seized in connection with these violations, with 14 
being firearms and 111 being gas-spray guns. 
 
According to Finnish law enforcement, the number of 
organized crime groups has grown slightly in the past 
few years, and so has the number of their members; in 
the end of 2008 there were 88 organized crimes groups 
with some 1,200 persons.  The number of crime 
organizations that meet the EU criterion was 36.  Most 
Finnish syndicates have international contacts, 
particularly with crime groups operating in Russia or 
the Baltic countries. 
 
Since Estonia's entry into the Schengen Treaty, 
Estonian travelers to Finland are no longer subject to 
routine customs inspection at ports-of-entry, making it 
difficult to intercept narcotics.  Although Estonian 
syndicates control the operations, many of the domestic 
street-level dealers are Finns.  Estonian smugglers 
also organize the shipment of Moroccan cannabis from 
Southern Spain to Finland.  Again, overall amounts are 
small.  Finnish law enforcement reports that 
cooperation with Estonian law enforcement is excellent. 
Finnish law enforcement appears well prepared to 
address the potential use by Asian crime groups of new 
air routes from Helsinki to major Asian cities like 
Bangkok, Beijing and New Delhi. In 2000, Finland had 4 
non-stop flights per week between Finland and Asia.  In 
2008, Finnair has 11 non-stop flights per day to Asia. 
To reduce the likelihood of Asian syndicates' 
exploiting such routes, Finnish law enforcement has 
established close cooperation with airline officials 
and Asian law enforcement to coordinate interdiction 
efforts, including the posting of liaison personnel in 
Beijing and Guangzhou. 
 
III. Country Actions against Drugs 
 
Policy Initiatives.  Finland's comprehensive 1998 
policy statement on illegal drugs articulates a zero- 
tolerance policy regarding narcotics.  Finnish 
comprehensive drug policy is based on general public 
policy measures, national legislation and international 
agreements.  A Government Resolution on co-operation in 
 
HELSINKI 00000429  003.2 OF 006 
 
 
drug policy that runs from 2008 to 2011 defines an 
overall plan to guide the Ministry of Social Affairs 
and Health preventing drug use and distribution.  In 
accordance with the Government Resolution, a new 
Narcotics Act was adopted by Parliament in 2008.  The 
Act brings the Finnish drug legislation in conformity 
with the current EU provisions.  However, a 2001 law 
created a system of fines for simple possession 
offenses rather than jail time. The fine system enjoys 
widespread popular support and is chiefly used to 
punish youth found in possession of small quantities of 
marijuana, hashish, or Ecstasy.  There is limited 
political and public support for stronger punitive 
measures. 
 
Finnish officials state that new instruments available 
in international cooperation, such as joint 
investigation teams and the rapid exchange of 
information available now that Finland is a signatory 
of the Prum Convention, will support the fight against 
the crime at national level. 
 
The present legislation provides for use of wiretapping 
only in those cases which would result in a prison 
sentence (such as homicide, espionage, aggravated 
sexual abuse and aggravated narcotic crime).  A bill 
went before Parliament in 2009 that attempted to expand 
the use of wiretapping in criminal investigations but 
it was eventually voted down.  The proposal would have 
also allowed wiretapping in specific criminal cases 
followed by a pecuniary penalty. 
 
Finland has a streamlined system that allows it to 
categorize new designer drugs as illegal narcotics 
within two to three months.  Law enforcement is still 
concerned with the ability of manufacturers to slightly 
modify existing narcotics to make them not technically 
illegal under the law.  The authorities are frustrate 
with the 12-24 months that the E.U. and the U.N. can 
take to make new designer drugs illegal. 
 
Law Enforcement Efforts. Finnish law enforcement 
continued to effectively investigate and prosecute 
instances of narcotics possession, distribution and 
trafficking.  Within Finland, the Finnish Police and 
Customs have primary responsibility for interdicting 
and investigating narcotics trafficking and 
distribution (the Border Guards, who primarily 
interdict narcotics during immigration checks, can 
conduct investigations and since 2005 their authority 
was expanded to cover all of Finland).  Within the 
police, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is 
charged with coordinating organized crime 
investigations, as well as serving as the Finnish focal 
point for international law enforcement cooperation. 
The police, as well as the Finnish Border Guards, fall 
under the Finnish Ministry of the Interior.  Customs 
falls under the Finnish Ministry of Finance, and also 
maintains responsibility for coordination of Finnish 
customs narcotics interdiction efforts with other 
nations' customs services.  Finnish judicial 
authorities are empowered to seize assets, real and 
financial, of criminals. 
 
Finnish law enforcement has effectively prioritized 
narcotics cases through Joint Intelligence Teams and 
Centers, which comprise representatives of the police, 
Customs and Border Guards.  These centers are located 
at the national, provincial and local levels, where a 
broad range of intelligence and analysis capabilities 
are brought to bear in identifying priority narcotics 
investigations.  For instance, the center responsible 
for Helsinki includes representatives from the NBI, 
Helsinki police, Customs, Border Guards, prison 
authorities and provincial police representatives.  The 
reformulation of joint Teams and Centers was initiated 
in 2008 in order to enhance the criminal investigation 
process.  In addition to organizational changes, a new 
national level situation center operating alongside the 
joint Teams and Centers will provide up-to-date 
information and situation monitoring for law 
enforcement organs. 
 
Additionally to the branch-specific training modules 
within the Police, Customs and Border Guard 
organizations, the personnel operating at the joint 
Teams and Centers were provided a collective course of 
crime analysis at the Police College in fall 2008. 
In 2007, the Finnish law enforcement community received 
additional government funding to pursue a number of 
interagency, target-oriented narcotics investigations, 
 
HELSINKI 00000429  004.2 OF 006 
 
 
including the assignment of prosecutors to an 
investigation from its inception.  The result of this 
additional funding has been positive, allowing 
authorities to target transnational organized crime 
syndicates attempting to import drugs to Finland. 
 
In 2006 Finnish Customs deployed a mobile X-ray 
scanning facility at Helsinki's Western Harbor to 
provide Customs with the ability to conduct scanning of 
incoming trucks and containers.  In 2007, Customs 
employed two such scanning devices and had one 
permanent scanning facility placed at Vaalimaa, which 
is the primary border-crossing between Finland and 
Russia.  More than 25,000 cargo units were scanned by 
the Finnish Customs during 2007.  Additionally, Customs 
has enhanced its use of narcotics detection canine 
units at key ports of entry into Finland.  While these 
resources have yielded limited narcotics seizures, the 
authorities feel that they serve a strong deterrent 
function. 
 
The 2008 Police report on narcotics offenses and 
seizures is the latest available.  In 2008, Finland 
experienced a 1 percent increase in the number of drug 
offenses and a 10 percent decrease in the number of 
aggravated narcotics offenses.  9,933 of the 16,530 
offenses reported for 2008 were related to narcotics 
use; the number of aggravated narcotics offenses was 
¶869.  Evidence of the limited cannabis market comes 
from the Customs figures for 2008 which show seizures 
totaling 56 kg of marijuana.  In 2008, 25 percent of 
the suspects of aggravated narcotics offenses were 
foreigners; of those, 40 percent were Estonian and 21 
percent were Russian. 
 
Authorities estimate that the use of cocaine has 
increased in Finland and in the other EU countries. 
While overall amounts of cocaine entering Finland 
remain extremely low, Finnish law enforcement believes 
the importation of cocaine will continue to increase. 
Finnish authorities have asserted that cocaine 
predominantly enters Finland from Spain and that 
Finnish motorcycle gangs play a significant role in the 
supply chain.  3 kg of cocaine were seized in 2008, 
down from 4 kg in 2007. 
 
Cocaine has not threatened the position of cannabis, 
amphetamine or Subutex among the most popular drugs. 
Finnish authorities have noted an increase in the 
number and quantity of steroid seizures on the Finnish 
market, from 111,000 and 116,000 tablets/ampoules 
seized in 2004 and 2005, respectively to 200,000 and 
192,000 seized in 2006 and 2007. 
 
One potentially worrying trend is that the few 
smuggling enterprises that do exist are becoming 
increasingly sophisticated.  For instance, consignments 
of amphetamine have been hidden in trucks, and 
subsequently buried in remote, locations. The locations 
are then mapped and sold to criminals in Estonia 
handling the retail trade in Finland.  To counter 
schemes of this type, the Finnish police are 
increasingly dependent on cooperation with their 
Estonian counterparts' cooperation they describe as 
outstanding.  It is now estimated that 90 percent of 
amphetamine is imported to Finland from or through 
Estonia.  Finnish law enforcement believes that 
significant quantities of the amphetamine on the 
Finnish market are produced in Lithuania by Lithuanian 
crime groups.  According to Finnish law enforcement, 
Estonian and Lithuanian organized crime groups appear 
to be working in close cooperation in trafficking 
amphetamine into Finland 
 
According to Customs officials, there has been an 
increase in the number of Subutex couriers departing 
Finland on a regular basis to Estonia and Latvia. 
However, as the couriers possess valid Subutex 
prescriptions, Customs authorities are prevented from 
seizing these legal prescriptions.  Suspected courier 
travel has increased annually for the past few years. 
From December 21, 2007, changes in EU regulations 
prevent Latvian and Estonian pharmacies from filling 
Subutex prescriptions for Finnish citizens.  However, 
Finnish couriers are likely attempting to identify 
other EU sources for Subutex, including France. 
 
Finland continued its impressive record on multilateral 
law enforcement, working through, among other 
organizations, EUROPOL, INTERPOL and the Baltic Sea 
Region Task Force on organized crime.  Finland 
 
HELSINKI 00000429  005.2 OF 006 
 
 
maintains thirteen liaison officers in ten cities, 
(Finland's reach extends to 36 countries if one 
includes Finland's participation in the Nordic liaison 
network).  Along with great cooperation with Estonian 
authorities, Finnish authorities report very good 
cooperation with Russian authorities.  Finnish law 
enforcement personnel continue to conduct criminal 
narcotics investigations involving Finland abroad, 
including the investigation of suspects beyond 
Finland's borders. 
 
Several international joint operations were launched 
during the reporting period, aimed at uncovering 
connections between organized crime groups, trafficking 
of drugs, illegal medicines and other substitutes, 
money laundering, forgeries and cargo surveillance. 
Five out of total eleven operations initiated in 2008 
were EU related, two were coordinated by the European 
Anti-Fraud Office and four operations were 
transnational.  Besides European and Finland's 
neighboring countries, the cooperating partners 
included countries from Asia (China, India, Thailand), 
South and North America (Argentina, Chile, Peru and 
U.S.) and Africa (Algeria, Tunis, Morocco). 
 
Corruption. As a matter of government policy, Finland 
does not encourage or facilitate illicit production or 
distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other 
controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds 
from illegal drug transactions.  Finnish officials do 
not engage in, facilitate, or encourage the illicit 
production or distribution of such drugs or substances, 
or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug 
transactions.  Official corruption is extremely rare in 
Finland.  There have been no arrests or prosecutions of 
public officials charged with corruption or related 
offenses linked to narcotics in Finnish history. 
 
Agreements and Treaties.  Finland is a party to the 
1988 UN Drug Convention.  Finland is also a party to 
the 1961 UN Single Convention as amended by the 1972 
Protocol, and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic 
Substances. Finland is a party to the UN Convention 
against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols 
on trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling and the 
UN Convention against Corruption.  A 1976 bilateral 
extradition treaty is in force between the United 
States and Finland. Finland signed the bilateral 
instrument of the EU-U.S. Extradition Treaty in 2004; 
Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee approved the 
Treaty in mid-2007, and the Finnish Parliament 
unanimously approved the Treaty in December 2007. 
Finland has also concluded a Customs Mutual Assistance 
Agreement with the United States. Finland is a member 
of the major Donors' Group within the Committee on 
Narcotic Drugs.  The vast majority of Finland's 
financial and other assistance to drug-producing and 
transit countries has been via the UNODC. The Treaty of 
Prum, which addresses cross-border cooperation 
(including information exchange) in combating crime and 
terrorism, took effect in Finland in June 2007. 
 
Cultivation/Production.  There were no reported 
seizures of indigenously cultivated opium, no recorded 
diversion of precursor chemicals and no detection of 
illicit methamphetamine, cocaine, or LSD laboratories 
in Finland in 2007.  Finland's climate makes 
cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy almost 
impossible.  Local cannabis cultivation, while 
described by authorities as increasing is nevertheless 
believed to be limited to small-scale, indoor 
hydroponic culture for individual use not sale. 
Authorities see the main reason for the increase in 
personal home cultivation as being mainly due to the 
ease of obtaining the specialized equipment over the 
internet. 
 
Seizures by weight of cannabis plants have fluctuated 
over the past several years with 2008 seeing seizures 
of 41 kg, a 47 percent decrease from 2007.  The other 
side of this statistic is that the number of plants 
seized increased dramatically, from 7600 plants in 2007 
to 14000 plants in 2008.  The majority of cultivation 
cases were very small, with an average of 1 to 20 
plants per seizure.  The distribution of 22 precursor 
chemicals listed by international agencies is tightly 
controlled. 
 
Drug Flow/Transit.  Medical narcotics (including 
Subutex), amphetamine and methamphetamine represent the 
majority of police seizures in Finland. Finland is not 
 
HELSINKI 00000429  006.2 OF 006 
 
 
a major transit country for narcotics. Most drugs 
trafficked into Finland originate or pass through 
Estonia.  Finnish authorities report that their land 
border with Russia is well guarded on both sides to 
ensure that it does not become a major transit route. 
 
Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction.  According to the 
Development Center for Social Affairs and Health, there 
are approximately 20,000 registered drug users in 
Finland, with some 10,000 undergoing treatment. 
Despite these low numbers, the Ministry of Health and 
Social Services has stated that the Government must do 
more to reduce demand.  The central government gives 
substantial autonomy to regional and municipal 
governments to address demand reduction using general 
revenue grants, and often relies upon the efforts of 
Finnish NGOs.  Finnish schools continued to educate 
students about the dangers of drugs. Finland's national 
public health service offered rehabilitation services 
to users and addicts.  Such programs typically use a 
holistic approach that emphasizes social and economic 
reintegration into society and is not solely focused on 
eliminating the subject's use and abuse of illegal 
drugs.  The government has been criticized for its 
failure to provide adequate access to rehabilitation 
programs for prison inmates.  An additional challenge 
in Finland in terms of treatment is that there is no 
substitute treatment for amphetamine in Finland. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
 
Policy Initiatives and Bilateral Cooperation.  The U.S. 
has worked with Finland and the other Nordic countries 
through multilateral organizations in an effort to 
combat narcotics trafficking in the Nordic-Baltic 
region.  This work has involved U.S. assistance to and 
cooperation with the Baltic countries and Russia. 
 
The Road Ahead.  The U.S. anticipates continued close 
cooperation with Finland in the fight against 
narcotics. Finnish law enforcement is expected to 
maintain its willingness to work with relevant U.S. law 
enforcement agencies, and is well positioned to 
exchange law enforcement information and 
collaboratively pursue narcotics traffickers and 
international organized criminal entities involved in 
the manufacture and distribution of narcotics 
 
BUTLER