In September 2023, the Customs Authority makes the largest drug seizure ever made in Värmland. During a control of a passenger car near the Norwegian border between Hån and Eda, nearly 250 kilos of cannabis are found.
Through evidence from a phone found discarded in a nearby lake, a large drug network is soon unraveled. At the center stands a 23-year-old man from Södertälje.
The man, who in encrypted apps goes by the alias "Top G" or "Ronaldinho", is identified as the client and organizer behind a drug trade that covers eleven drug transports to different parts of Sweden and Norway.
In July, the man and his three accomplices are sentenced to ten years in prison each.
New League Discovered
But in connection with the man's arrest in January this year, the customs authorities came across another network. In a phone found in his residence, according to the prosecutor, there is evidence of yet another league believed to have been controlled by the 23-year-old. This week, he is therefore brought before the court again for aggravated drug offenses.
Also charged is a 25-year-old mother of small children, who had scheduled a meeting with the man on the same evening as he was arrested. In her residence, the customs authorities find over 50 kilos of drugs, including 21 kilos of cocaine.
The woman, who has not previously been convicted of serious crime, is also charged with aiding and abetting aggravated drug offenses. According to the prosecutor, she has agreed to handle over 100 kilos of drugs a few days before the arrest.
Under the Radar
That women like the 25-year-old get roles such as drug storage or weapons handling for criminal gangs has become more common.
Yes, we see it occasionally that it is people who have not previously been convicted of similar crimes. Then you can go a bit under the radar, maybe, says Kristian Johansson, unit manager for the Customs Criminal Unit East.
Two men suspected of involvement in the pickup of 30 kilos of cocaine from Helsingborg to Stockholm are also charged. Neither of them has previously been convicted of similar criminality.
Kristian Johansson says that the goal is a major case for the customs authorities, but the amount of drugs involved is no longer exceptional.
These quantities are almost the new normal, in some way. We are working with extremely large cases, it's often three-digit numbers, if you will.
All four deny the charges.
