”Criminal gangs would travel into the country in the evening, committing as many crimes as they could and then leave as quickly as possible,” says Petri Erkkilä of Maritime Customs.
Perpetrators behind accelerated crime sprees arrive in the country well prepared and goal-oriented. Some of those apprehended have carried navigation devices with targets' addresses already plugged in.
”There’s been an explosive rise in this new type of criminal activity,” says police inspector Veikko Koiranen.
Customs officials say quickie crime surged following Estonia’s entrance into the border control-free Schengen zone in 2007.
Last week officials intercepted three vans transporting stolen goods at Helsinki’s West Harbour. Offenders also favour entry points such as the Turku harbor in the southwest and border crossing points in northern Finland.