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Bitcoin Confiscated in €1 Million Finnish Drug Bust
Customs agents in Finland revealed today that they seized bitcoin and other items worth about €1m earlier this year.
Updated Sep 11, 2021, 12:28 p.m. Published Aug 26, 2016, 3:49 p.m.
Customs agents in Finland revealed today that they seized bitcoin and other items worth about €1m earlier this year in connection with the operation of an online dark market.
In addition to the bitcoin and other "movable property", the Finnish customs agency said it stopped about 15 kilos of drugs totaling 10 million doses and valued on the street at about € 1.1m, according to a statement.
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Three Finnish individuals are suspected of trying to bring into the country more than 40 pounds of powdered drugs, more than 40,000 ecstasy tablets, 30,000 tabs of LSD, a variety of "designer" drugs and pure methamphetamine.
All three individuals have been in prison since April, when the drugs were seized.
According to a translation of the statement:
"The suspects are about 30 years old and a native of southwest Finland and the Helsinki metropolitan area. Customs has made the investigation of the case [in] co-operation with the Netherlands, the US Germany, Latvian authorities and Europol."
A representative of Finland's customs office told CoinDesk the online drug site was named Valhalla. According to DeepDotWeb.com, the site has been in operation since October 2013. Valhalla is still operational.
Referred to as the "Online Drug Shop" in the translation of the statement, the shop appears to have risen to prominence in 2014, when its proprietors began marketing themselves by sending out free LSD to potential buyers.
An earlier version of the site was named Silkkitie, which translates as Silkroad, according to the representative. Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation the agency was not able to provide additional details.
The site was run via the Tor browser and appears to have accepted bitcoin for payment.
According to the statement, the Southwest Finland District Court has until September of this year to consider the full extent of the charges.
Update: This article was updated with information provided by a representative of the Finnish customs office.
Drugs and euros image via Shutterstock
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