27-year-old Uzbek arrested in Tallinn: over 13 kg of narcotics found in possession
Police detained an Uzbek national with a Latvian residence permit in Tallinn on 19 October, from whose rented flat over 13 kilogrammes of narcotic substances were found.
Tallinn drug courier distributed substances via Telegram, court remanded man in custody
According to Lounaeestlane.ee, police detained a 27-year-old Uzbek national with a Latvian residence permit in Tallinn on 19 October as a suspect in the unlawful handling of narcotics in large quantities. The court granted the prosecutor's request for detention, and the man remains in jail during the preliminary investigation.
Rainet Juuse, head of the Criminal Bureau of the East Prefecture, described how the man distributed narcotic substances via the messaging application Telegram and operated mainly in Tallinn. "According to the suspicion, the man stored narcotics in his rented flat, where he packaged the substances into smaller quantities and then moved the packed parcels to hiding places around the city," Juuse explained. During a search of the flat, at least 5.4 kilogrammes of substance containing amphetamine and over 8.1 kilogrammes of substances containing MDMA, cocaine, cannabis and hashish were discovered. According to initial suspicion, this quantity of narcotics would have been sufficient for approximately 70,000 people.
Sergei Listov, the prosecutor conducting the case, noted that the gathered evidence points to the man's involvement with a larger criminal group operating across Estonia. "In drug crime, each link in the chain has a specific role. The criminal connections necessary to obtain narcotics in such quantities do not break with a person's detention," said Listov. In justifying the detention request, the prosecutor cited the fact that the man has no permanent income and no connections whatsoever to Estonia, which meant he could have evaded criminal proceedings and continued distributing narcotics if released.
According to Juuse, drug crime has largely moved online and the criminal network has been made multi-layered to make it harder to catch offenders. "A large proportion of narcotics trafficking occurs in closed or semi-closed encrypted groups, where people can ostensibly remain anonymous. However, police have an overview of these groups in Estonia, and the man's detention is proof of this," Juuse added.
The preliminary proceedings are being conducted by the East Prefecture, with the Viru County Prosecutor's Office as the lead prosecutor.
Source: Google News EE — Crime (et)