In February this year, three people were indicted for having been involved in cocaine smuggling in the port of Helsingborg. One of the men was then employed at the port and, according to the prosecutor, must have had an insider role in the smuggling.
In April, the dock worker and a friend of his were sentenced to two years in prison each for, among other things, attempting and being labeled a particularly serious drug crime in 2020.
Cocaine smuggling Helsingborg port
Cocaine worth millions was smuggled in containers – dock workers in Helsingborg are sentenced to two years in prison
Chats can bring down suspected cocaine gangs in Helsingborg’s port
The verdict was appealed to the Court of Appeal
A third person was sentenced to eight years in prison for, among other things, serious drug offenses and serious weapons offenses for having been involved in cocaine smuggling to the port in 2022.
The dock worker was also charged with involvement in smuggling in 2022 but was acquitted by the district court.
After being appealed, the case was tried in the Court of Appeal and on Monday the verdict was confirmed. The Court of Appeal makes the same assessment as the district court, but stiffens the sentence for the third man to nine years in prison instead of eight years.
Encrypted chats important evidence
Important evidence has been conversations from the Sky ECC encrypted chat. Helsingborg’s district court held that it was proven, based on the material in the chats, that the port worker and his friend had long-standing plans to smuggle cocaine from Ecuador to Helsingborg’s port.
All the defendants have always denied involvement.
This is what the prosecutor said about the district court verdict that came in April 2024:
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Three people, one of whom was a port worker, were sentenced earlier this year for having smuggled cocaine worth SEK 175 million into Helsingborg’s port. Photo: SVT/Erik Ragnar Danielsson