It is over 11 in the evening. Two people walk towards each other in the supermarket car park. They face, shake hands, and quickly head in opposite directions.
It is a familiar sight both in the center of Tampere and in the suburbs. Even the time of day does not affect so much whether the bag changes hands.
"Just walking from the police station to the shopping center Koskikeskus, you will see all kinds of things along the way," says the police chief Ari Luoto From the Central Finland Police Department.
There are plenty of sellers, as drug users often sell to fund their own use. The store has warmed to the point where customers can order up to half a pill for home delivery.
Touring dealers
Even in the drug trade, the country is increasingly a single market. According to Luoto, for example, professional retailers monitor online demand and move accordingly.
"If they are in Oulu and the word moves that there is a need in Tampere, they come to Tampere by train or car and sell here," Credit explains.
If sales decline, dealers will move to another city.
When there is demand, there is supply. There are many medicine offers online, the quantities available vary from a single dose to a kilo pack.
And packages can contain anything. According to Luoto, there are a lot of scams in the drug trade. Either the substance supplied is of poor quality or it is not a drug at all.
At the same time, participation in drug trafficking is risky. Luoto points out that in many violent crime investigations, either the buyer or the seller is robbed.
Size does not matter
Police intervene in all drug offenses, regardless of the size or volume of the trade.
If there were more cops on the ground, the drug trade would no longer be so visible. However, the goal is to catch bigger players so that the impact of the arrests is also greater.
Police are interested in all the clues and details about drug trafficking.
"Even if the seller is not a very big player, there is always someone higher who sells more. And above him is an even bigger guy. This is how research progresses," Credit points out.
Most of the tips given to the police are about cannabis because it is so easily identifiable by the smell. Most of the products currently on the market are branded drugs and drugs, but also white powder that has been around for decades
"At present, demand for cocaine appears to be strong," says Luoto.
Source: The Nordic Page