The number of customs offences grew considerably last year, Finnish Customs announced on Friday.
The agency recorded 6,482 customs offences in 2022, a growth of about 1,000 compared to the year before.
Some of the increase was related to work on regulatory violations, but the agency said officers were also kept busy dealing with narcotics seizures.
Finnish Customs added that the sanctions imposed against Russia by the EU has also clearly had an impact on the total number of offences.
"Last year, the sanctions against Russia and Belarus brought the number of regulation offences taken under preliminary investigation to over 300. Usually there have been only a few cases of suspected regulation offences each year," Director of Enforcement Hannu Sinkkonen said in a statement.
Customs said it seized nearly 1,400 kg of illicit drugs valued at more than 100 million euros last year. They added that the increase was due to a boost in khat seizures. Khat is a plant native to eastern Africa, whose leaves are chewed for their stimulating effect.
Officials also reported confiscating an increased amount of amphetamine and cannabis, 86 kg and 310 kg respectively.
"To an increasing extent, online narcotics trade gives access to new narcotic substances as well. Last year, we encountered about 150 various narcotic substances in Finland, 11 of which were completely new and had not surfaced here ever before," Sinkkonen said.
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