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February 14, 2012
Swedish customs crack cocaine gang plan
Published: 22 Jan 10 11:33 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/24528/20100122/
Customs officers in Gothenburg have unravelled a scheme that saw cocaine being smuggled into the country from Costa Rica. The gang used stolen identification from pensioners and the disabled to receive drug parcels.
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They were caught with the help of stolen identities from pensioners and people with disabilities who received home-help services in the Gunnared area of the city.
“They even used a dead person’s identification in connection with payments being sent to central America,” customs investigator Dick Henry told GP.
The drugs were packed in small amounts in bottles of nail varnish and sent from Costa Rica to Sweden. It is not yet clear how long the scheme has been running nor the quantity or value of the drugs seized.
During the investigation, Swedish Customs (Tullverket) infiltrated the home-help services and tracked a 36-year-old woman, employed to help with cleaning and cooking duties for the elderly and infirm.
On numerous occasions she signed for parcels, using the address of one of her clients and his driving licence as identification.
The newspaper adds that many members of the gang, who are Gothenburg residents, have recently moved to the city from an unspecified Caribbean country.
”The gang leader was registered in Sweden as recently as March 2009,” Dick Henry added.
A 32-year old man was arrested in January suspected of being the brains behind the scheme, which is believed to be part of a wider international cartel.
TT/Christine Demsteader
news@thelocal.se
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Swedish word of the day
fin
adjective
Fin means anyhting from sweet to proper. When someone says, Du är så fin it's quite a compliment.
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Simply ship the drugs to russia, and move them accross Finland and off the ferry to Sweden. I've YET to see any customs worker. In fact. That's how I got all my dead hookers back to Sweden!
Hope No Tull agents were sunburned during this operation
I've heard stories about drugs around tcentral but have never witnessed anything myself, although i did get a whiff of someone smoking weed when i passed by - but couldn't identify who was the offender.
I wonder if this effects the prices... but with no details on how big the gang was i think that would be hard to say.
My recent trip to prague there was a guy peddling it on the street,asked me as i passed by, i feel like kicking myself for not finding out how much he was selling it for.
Long live Karl XVI Gustaf!
We've found in Canada that there is good and bad with bringing immigrants in from around the world. It's 95% mostly good, but expect the mafia, triads, etc and other ethnic criminal organizations to be part of the process of opening your borders to the rest of the world.