Prosecutor Benedicte Hordnes asked for more than 16 years and six months in prison for the majority of the five Albanian defendants. – Here it is professional and well organised, said Hordnes. She asked that the man, who is 30 years old, get a discount, and that he should thus receive a sentence of 13 years and two months. This because he had confessed. – The price for recognition in this environment is something completely different from what it means in Norway. Acknowledging one’s own part can have consequences, said the prosecutor. The ship “Nordloire” came from Brazil to Husnes on 12 April 2023, and had been used for so-called parasite smuggling. Over 150 kilos of cocaine were found in the cooling water intake on the ship, and this was the largest cocaine seizure ever made in Western Norway. The ship “Nordloire” docked at a Hydro quay in the industrial town of Husnes in Vestland. During the night, one of the defendants dived under the ship and retrieved four sacks with a total of 150 kilograms of cocaine. Photo: Atle Helland The five Albanians stood accused, as an organized criminal group, of having stored and introduced drugs from Brazil to Husnes in Norway. Several of the defendants denied criminal liability. A sixth person who had been arrested died in prison. The cocaine was packed in bags and attached to the hull of the ship. Photo: Vest police district The yellow bags contained cocaine. This is one of four bags that the police confiscated. Photo: Vest police district 150 kilos were taken. Photo: Vest police district Now the verdict is clear: Man (46): 15 years. Woman (33): 4 years and 9 months. Male (30): 10 years and 4 months. Male (27): 13 years and 6 months. Male (26): 13 years and 6 months. These are the defendants in the Husnes case. According to the indictment, the 46-year-old picked up the cocaine that was attached to the bottom of the ship “Nordloire”. Man (46) – denied criminal liability. The defender is Ole Petter Drevland. According to the indictment, the woman (33) must have participated in, among other things, prior planning, purchase of diving equipment in Bergen, interpretation, handling of diving equipment before the dive and transport of the diver by car to and from the place where the substance was picked up. Woman (33) – denied criminal liability. Defendant is Fredrik Schøne Brodwall. According to the indictment, the 30-year-old and the 26-year-old must have participated, among other things, in prior planning, receiving diving equipment at Gardermoen, shipping diving equipment to Husnes and receiving the fabric lot at the water’s edge. Man (30) – pleaded guilty to criminal charges after the indictment. Defender is Alexander Gonzalo Sele. Man (27) – admitted to having been there, but denied criminal liability, because he did not know what they picked up. Defendant is Kai-Inge Gavle. According to the indictment, the man (26) must have been involved in the planning and must have received the drug when it was picked up from the water and put in the car he was driving. Man (26) admitted partial criminal liability, but claims he thought they were going to smuggle hashish. The defense is Øystein Ola Storrvik. The age of the defendants is the age they are or will be in 2024. The source is the indictment against the five. Will appeal Defense attorney Øystein Ola Storrvik has spoken to his client, who is a 26-year-old man. They will appeal. – Because it was not assumed that he subjectively thought he had received hashish and not cocaine, says Storrvik. – Otherwise, we are quite satisfied that the level has been adjusted from 16.5 years in the allegation to 13.5 years in the judgment, he says. The woman’s defense attorney, Fredrik Schøne Brodwall, will not comment on the verdict until he has gone through it thoroughly with his client. – It is reassuring to see that the district court takes much of her explanation as a basis and that in any case she has had a subordinate role where she “involuntarily was dragged into the situation”, he writes in an SMS to news. The defense attorneys for the other three have not responded to news. Work together The defendants came to Norway by hire car and plane and communicated with encrypted apps. Two underwater scooters that were transported in a car into Larvik made customs officials suspicious. They tipped off the police, and they were then able to find out that several of them lived in a hotel near Gardermoen. After being handed over diving equipment, the six people drove in two rental cars to Husnes. The 26-year-old man was driving a car he had borrowed from someone he knew in Sweden. Three of them, including the man who dived, the woman, and the man who is now dead, gradually bought more diving equipment in Bergen. Revealed after a major operation After recovering the cocaine on land, the six were arrested. The activity, which the police filmed with a heat-seeking camera, enabled them to make an arrest. The police filmed the arrest with a heat-seeking camera. In court, several of them claimed that they did not know each other, and some of them were also afraid of an Italian lawyer who had contacted them. They were afraid of blood feud if they spoke. One of them claimed he was in Norway to control a tourist ship. The same man claims that the writing on the prison wall was not meant for anyone other than himself. The prosecutor thought the confession was a secret message to the accused woman. Customs officers became suspicious when they discovered two underwater scooters in a car on the way into Larvik. It could be a sign that someone was diving for drugs. The publicans tipped off the police. Photo: Customs The defendants have been filmed by a surveillance camera at the hotel in Gardermoen. The police believe the photo shows that the defendants know each other better than they claim. Photo: The police While the defendants were at Husnes, three of them were in a shop that sells diving equipment in the center of Bergen. They bought equipment for around NOK 35,000, paid partly in cash and partly by MasterCard. Photo: The police At this boathouse, the 45-year-old man went into the water, got to the ship and took four sacks of cocaine with him. Six people were arrested here. In these cooling water intakes were the four sacks of cocaine. Photo: Tolletaten In this Swedish-registered car, the cocaine was seized. Photo: The police On the prison wall it was written: “The black phone is not ours. I came to vacation. It’s the first time I’ve seen them, I don’t know them. (…) They have sent us under duress. (…) You are going to leave. It is unknown whether I will be convicted.” Photo: Bergen prison / the police – A societal problem In the National Threat Assessment report from January 2024, Kripos writes that the professionalization of cocaine smuggling has led to larger seizures and a much higher degree of force. In addition, it appears in the report that it is likely that Albanian-language drug networks will pose a significant threat to Norway in the importation and distribution of cocaine. – Organized crime is a major social problem for the whole world, so it is very important to try to overcome this, said prosecutor Hordnes to news earlier. Published 26.06.2024, at 13.15 Updated 26.06.2024, at 13.22
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Five people convicted after finding 150 kilos of cocaine stuck under a ship at Husnes – news Vestland
