Swedish Customs has charged three men with smuggling 240 kilos of cocaine into Sweden using divers and underwater scooters. The bust occurred in Ljungskile last summer following a surveillance operation. The method involved retrieving the drugs from ship hulls in Uddevalla harbor.
A major bust against drug smuggling took place in Ljungskile last summer, where Swedish Customs seized 170 kilos of cocaine valued at around 160 million kronor. In total, the suspects are believed to have handled 240 kilos of cocaine, retrieved by 'frogmen' – divers using underwater scooters to collect packages from ship hulls underwater in Uddevalla harbor.
The surveillance began when two Albanian citizens brought two underwater scooters into Sweden in a German-registered motorhome, arousing customs inspectors' suspicions. The men claimed they were vacationing in Norway, but Customs' criminal division followed them to Stockholm and later to a location outside Trollhättan in a Mercedes borrowed from the third man, a Romanian citizen.
"It becomes increasingly obvious to us that the men are engaged in criminal activity in the local area and that it is a well-organized operation," says Richard Johansson, head of the criminal division West at Customs.
During the bust, 140 kilos of cocaine were found in seven moving boxes in a Romanian-registered van, and another 30 kilos in the motorhome. The two Albanian men had been at Uddevalla harbor about a week earlier for over four hours, when the drugs were likely retrieved. The third man is suspected of disposing of the scooters and 70 kilos of cocaine.
"They were there for just over four hours, and that's when the narcotics were probably picked up from the ship's hull using divers. Unfortunately, we have not been able to identify these persons," adds Johansson. The method is well-known among smugglers, according to the authority.
The two Albanian men are charged with particularly serious drug smuggling and particularly serious drug offense, while the Romanian man is charged with particularly serious drug offense. The indictment was filed earlier this week.