The case in summary Five men have been charged with having imported 800 kilos of hashish into Norway in one of the biggest hashish cases in Western Norway ever. Two of the defendants are from Lithuania and the other three are Norwegian, living in Hardanger and Stavanger. Three of the accused men plead not guilty. The last two say they are partially guilty of some of the indictments. The police found 94 kilograms of hashish buried in various places in the terrain around a farm in Hardanger, which must have been used to store the drug. The case was opened after the police received decrypted messages in the SkyEEC communication network. The police used covert methods such as telephone and room tapping, surveillance, hidden camera surveillance and secret searches in the investigation. The police believe that the network has a mastermind living in Málaga in Spain, who is not part of the criminal case because he is under investigation in Lithuania. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Five men are charged with having organized a collaboration to introduce a total of 800 kilos of hashish into Norway. – This is a puzzle of a case, said state prosecutor Kristine Herrebrøden in the trial. A farm in Bjørnafjorden is said to have been used to store large quantities of material. The police found 94 kilograms of hashish buried in various places in the terrain around the farm of one of the accused men. The farmer who owns the farm is one of the defendants. He denies criminal guilt and says he has nothing to do with the case. – The substance was placed in various barrels with lids, which were hidden in the terrain, explained state attorney Herrebrøden. Several of the packages were marked with a gorilla and the Nutella logo. The police found the characteristics again in other seizures during the case. State prosecutor Kristine Herrebrøden is the prosecutor in the extensive drug case. She describes the case as “a puzzle of a case”. Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaas / news Three plead not guilty The drug case, which started in Hordaland district court on Monday, is one of the biggest hashish cases in Veslandet ever. – What makes the case special is that it is such a large quantity. It’s not often we see here in Western Norway, says Herrebrøden to news. Three of the men pleaded not guilty. While two of the men partially plead guilty. Two of the defendants are originally from Lithuania, but have previously been associated with Arendal. The three Norwegian men live in Bjørnafjorden, Hardanger and Stavanger. The farmer’s defender, Rune Håkon Tjomsland, said that his client deals with sheep, vegetables and firewood. – It is important to keep in mind when he is observed on the farm with gloves and a bag on his back, he said. The defense also believes that the client has had a small amount of composure against the others in the case. Nor has he had much financial gain, according to him. – Each individual is entitled to receive an individual assessment of each individual kilo, he said. Rune Håkon Tjomsland defends the man who allegedly stored 94 kilos of hash on his farm. He denies criminal guilt. Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaas / news Brought in by small plane The Lithuanian men are said to have introduced the drug into the country. The prosecution believes that they were involved when 222.6 kilograms of hashish was transported into the country using sport aircraft. The plane landed at Jarlsberg Airport in Tønsberg, but was actually going to Voss. While the other three must have been recipients in Norway. Two of the accused men were involved when 222 kilograms of hashish was transported into the country by small plane to Jarlsberg airport. The plane was actually going to Voss. Photo: The police Many packages of drugs have been seized during the investigation. These had the Nutella logo stuck on them. Photo: the police Andre had this gorilla glued on. Photo: The police The police found barrels of cannabis buried in the terrain around a farm in Hardanger in 2022. Photo: The police The police found many shopping bags in a car they stopped in February 2022. Photo: The police Several bags were found in the car. Photo: The police Unlocked encrypted messages The case unfolded after the police received decrypted messages in the SkyEEC communication network. – Usually the police find drugs, and then the investigation starts. This is not a traditional drug case, said Herrebrøden. It started with the police in France, the Netherlands and Belgium being able to gain access to the servers of the communication service. The messages were decrypted and forwarded to the Norwegian police. This platform was shut down after an international police operation in 2021. The accused man from Stavanger explained that he met the accused Lithuanians through acquaintances around eight years ago. He said it started cautiously. That they got “little by little” contact. – I have smoked a lot over the years. I have a very bad memory, he said in court. He explained that he also got the encrypted phone from them. According to him, they supplied him with drugs, which he resold. – I wanted nothing to do with them, but I never got rid of them, he said. Prosecutor and state prosecutor Kristine Herrebrøden and police prosecutor and co-prosecutor Jørgen Henriksen. Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaas / news Sky ECC Canadian service owned by the company Sky Global. The service was delivered on mobile phones and made it possible to communicate encrypted with SMS, audio and picture messages. The phone could only be used to communicate via Sky ECC, not for other purposes. All users were given their own ID consisting of six letters or numbers, and you could also create your own profile names. In the period 2019 to 2021, the service had approximately 170,000 users, and approximately 1,250 of these were in Norway. Sky ECC was shut down after an international police operation in March 2021. Covert methods used The police then used covert methods to crack the case. They conducted phone and room tapping, spied, used hidden camera surveillance and secret searches. Herrebrøden calls the case “complex and time-consuming”. Along the way, Norwegian police have cooperated with police abroad. During the investigation, the police have focused backwards and upwards in the supply chain. They have not looked at resale. The police believe that the network has a mastermind living in Málaga in Spain, who is not part of the criminal case. The reason is that he is under investigation in Lithuania. Lawyer Ellen Eikeseth Mjøs defends one of the accused men from Lithuania. She believes that the client is not part of a criminal group, and that he has not brought hashish into the country. Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaas / news Hello! Thank you very much for reading the case! Thinking of something? Do you have something on your mind that I should write about? I would be very happy to receive an email. Published 28.10.2024, at 15.15 Updated 28.10.2024, at 20.23
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Five men indicted for drug trafficking in Western Norway – news Vestland
