Substances | Someone ordered drugs to Sakar’s home in his thirties – And he’s not the only victim

You the day was supposed to be just a normal autumn festival.

Thirty Sakari was spending a day off with his friends in September of last year when he got a call.

The caller was a Customs official who was on his way to Sakari’s apartment to search his home. Sakar was told that he was grossly suspected of a drug crime.

Sakaria, who had never even touched drugs.

“At first I was quite sure that the whole call was a joke, or that someone was trying to get into my apartment under a false pretext. It came completely out of the blue,” Sakari recalls now a year later.

Sakari does not appear in the story under his own name due to the sensitivity of the case. His real name and the prosecutor’s decision related to the case are known to Helsingin Sanomat.

It wasn’t a joke. A considerable amount of drugs had been ordered in Sakar’s name to his home address. So the criminal suspects had the right grounds.

What had really happened?

The situation seriousness fell on Sakar the next day at the latest, when he went to Helsinki-Vantaa airport to be questioned by Customs.

He was suspected of illegally importing a synthetic drug. The illegal substance had been ordered from abroad, but it was seized during customs control.

“Customs said that the value of the confiscated drug would have been over ten thousand euros in a street store,” Sakari recalls of the interrogations held a year ago.

A serious drug crime can be sentenced to a minimum of one year and a maximum of ten years in prison.

And now Sakari was the prime suspect.

Customs questioned Sakari thoroughly, but he didn’t have much to say. He doesn’t use drugs, and doesn’t even know anyone who uses illegal substances.

In addition to the interrogations, Sakar’s entire life was blamed. According to Sakar, customs went through, for example, his account and telephone information. Nothing indicating the purchase of drugs was found.

There was only one explanation in Sakari’s mind: someone else had ordered the drugs in his name to his home address.

But how can you prove it?

Drugs are ordered to Finland quite often in the names of unrelated people or to their home addresses, says the head of criminal investigations at the Customs Hannu Sinkkonen. Similar cases come to the attention of Customs every week.

At the heart of the matter, according to Sinkkonen, is that the right person ordering the drugs somehow gets access to the address where the illegal substances are ordered.

“Sometimes illegal substances are ordered in the name of a relative or friend, for example. Sometimes the name or address is obtained, for example, through phishing,” says Sinkkonen.

Ordinary citizens can protect themselves from becoming an instrument of crime by securing their personal information. For example, you should think carefully about whether you agree to a friend’s request to receive a package ordered from abroad, the contents of which are uncertain.

“I would also remove home addresses from paper letters and invoices before throwing them in the paper collection. Criminals can sometimes find out people’s information just through this,” says Sinkkonen.

Last year, Customs conducted a preliminary investigation into 390 suspected serious drug crimes. The number has increased, as in 2022, only 291 equivalent preliminary examinations were conducted.

Sakari had to wait almost a year for the prosecutor’s decision on whether to dismiss the criminal charge or whether the matter will proceed to the courts. He received little interim information.

“Anxiety and waiting were repeatedly on my mind. I thought a lot that someone had used my name and address for a crime. I was also afraid that someone would come to my door asking for a package of drugs,” says Sakari.

Anxiety was also increased by the criminal investigation and its possible effects in the future. For Sakar, for example, it is not certain whether the suspicion of a crime could, for example, sometimes make it difficult to change jobs.

The expected decision finally came in August of this year. The charge was dismissed.

“Of course, it was a really big relief. However, the uncertainty has remained, as I don’t know if this bullying can still affect my life in the future,” says Sakari.

One despite everything, the question is still open: how was the drug package ordered in Sakar’s name to his address?

Sakar is not aware that his personal information has been leaked. Nor had he made his address available to half-acquaintances in the way Sinkkonen described.

He has one theory as to how everything could have happened.

“The building of my apartment was being renovated at the same time as the suspected crime took place. The repairmen used universal keys to enter the apartment. It is possible that one of the renovation workers took advantage of this opportunity to commit a crime.”

Sakari also told about his doubts during the interrogation by Customs. During the customs investigation, it became clear that the movement of renovation workers in the apartments had not been controlled. So it is not excluded that the opportunity made the thief to receive the drug package at a foreign address.

Sakari’s theory is therefore completely possible. It is also possible that Customs used the existence of this alternative theory as one of the grounds for dismissing the charge. According to Sakar, this does not seem completely fair.

“I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t told you about the renovation. It now feels like the burden of proof fell unreasonably on my shoulders,” Sakari thinks.