A lithanian has been sentenced to eight years and three months in prison for attempting to smuggle 22 kilograms of methamphetamine to Norway. Insufficient resources meant that the police did not take up the hunt for the perpetrators.
The 49-year-old was stopped in a routine check at Svinesund at noon on 28th October 2015. The officer found more than 22 kilograms of methamphetamine in a total of 22 packages hidden in a constructed cavity behind the bumpers on the car.
– It’s about a very substantial number of doses and the party had a very great value on the illicit market.
The defendant is deemed to have acted out of a private profit motive, wrote Judge Svein Magnussen in his judgment.
The man has denied knowledge of the drugs. He explained in Halden District Court that he was going to Norway to help a friend with the cooling system in a truck.
The court attached no credence to the explanation, but gave him a few months’ sentence reduction because he basically showed willingness to cooperate with the police to apprehend recipients.
The police, however, had no resources to carry out the action, which the court sees as extremely critical:
– The Court notes that it is unfortunate that the lack of resources means that police must draw the line early when it comes to trying to get arrested named backers abroad, writes Magnussen.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
