Authorities have expanded a human trafficking investigation into the berry company Arctic Group.
Police now suspect the firm of aggravated human trafficking during the 2022 and 2023 wild berry harvesting seasons. Previously, the company was suspected of the lesser offence of human trafficking, and the probe only focused on last year.
According to the police, there are 10 suspects in the investigation and hundreds of plaintiffs, i.e. victims of the suspected crimes. The plaintiffs are Thai berry pickers who were potentially exploited while working for the Arctic Group.
The company's CEO, Janne Naapanki, has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement, the Arctic Group said that the accusations are unwarranted. The company, based in Sotkamo in the eastern Kainuu region, markets berries and other products under the Marjex brand.
Thai ex-ministers face graft charges
Meanwhile in Thailand, two former ministers and two high-ranking Labour Ministry officials are suspected of corruption linked to berry harvesting in Finland. Finnish police have provided evidence to Thai authorities for their own investigation, reports the Finnish news agency STT.
The Bangkok Post reports that the four are suspected of benefitting financially from the transfer of Thai harvesters to Finland. The allegations cover the years 2020–23.
The Thai police’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) suspects that the four demanded 36 million Thai baht (some 930,000 euros), from a Thai job broker in exchange for approving of the transfer of Thai workers to pick wild berries in Finland.
According to the DSI, the recruiter was obliged to pay the ministers and civil servants about 3,000 baht, or about 76 euros, for each picker who ended up in Finland. The job broker is said to have then demanded this sum from each of the approximately 12,000 pickers who travelled to Finland.
Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said in 2022 that it had requested legal assistance from Thai authorities in its criminal investigation of the berry industry.
Earlier this year, Finnish prosecutors brought charges of human trafficking against Kiantama CEO Vernu Vasunta, former Polarica Marjahankinta CEO Jukka Kristo and a Thai business partner.
All three suspects have pleaded not guilty.
Another suspect in the NBI investigation is Olli Sorainen, a senior ministerial adviser at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. In late 2022, he was remanded on suspicion of aggravated acceptance of a bribe and breach of official duty as part of an extensive human trafficking investigation in the berry industry.
Sorainen has denied the allegations. Earlier that year, he accompanied then-employment minister Tuula Haatainen (SDP) for a meeting to discuss the issue with the Thai Ambassador to Finland.
Yle News' All Points North podcast probed the allegations of forced labour and human trafficking that could see Finland's berry crop wither on the bush this summer.
Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena, via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
