Ten charged with drugs crime

District CourtDistrict Court.Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB scanpix

A total of ten people are accused of drugs crime as part of the activities of an organised criminal group in the Bergen district.

 

The case has been investigated since 2015, and the police mention it as one of Norway’s biggest drug cases.

“The case is one of the biggest drug cases investigated in Norway.Police have opened criminal proceedings against more than 100 people as a result of the investigation,’’said police adviser, Kristin Harstad, at a press conference according to Bergens Tidende newspaper.

The people involved are mainly men aged between 20 and 45 who are living in Hordaland, Sogn and Fjordane and Buskerud.Most are Norwegian citizens, and some of them are known to the police from before it was announced at the press conference.

“The turnover has mainly taken place online.During the investigation five criminal cases have been established against police officers.Three of the cases were dropped,and two were settled by surprise, investigator Hege Garberg Natland reported.

The case began after a seizure in a private residence on November 30, 2015. At that time, the Bergen police reported that the Bergen newspaper referred to “a huge doping faction” in a loft in Bergen.

A dozen men in their 20s to 30s from the Bergen area were charged with drug crimes in the wake of the seizure.

The trial against three of the defendants starts on 10 September,while the seven others must meet in court just after the new year, wrote Bergensavisen newspaper. Bergen District Court has set 114 legal proceedings from the 7th of January to 28th of June next year for consideration in the case.

Attorney General Trond Høvik, who will be the prosecutor in both cases,said the charges were brought this summer.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today