The gang attempted to smuggle drugs into Finland by private car. The first shipment headed for Finland was seized by Polish police officials. A second shipment was caught in Finland on the Swedish-Finnish border at Tornio.
Both shipments contained 15 kg of amphetamines and 10,000 ecstasy tablets each.
The same gang used a courier service to smuggle around 3,000 Subutex tablets from France to Finland. Some 1,000 of these were distributed in Tampere before police seized the remainder.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) estimates the street value of the hashish that was seized at over 18 million euros and the value of the amphetamines that were being produced at 8.4 million. The value of the Subutex shipment is estimated by the NBI at around four million.
Altogether 33 people are suspected of involvement. They include citizens of Finland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Estonia, Lithuania, Somalia, Egypt, Iraq and Iran. Nineteen of them have been taken into custody in Finland.
