Helsinki District Court has handed a seven-and-a-half-year jail sentence to a young man from Helsinki for drug crimes.
The defendant was 17 years old and living with his parents when the crimes were committed.
The court found him guilty of selling several illegal drugs, including nearly 25,000 tablets of the opioid drug buprenorphine, 300 grams of cocaine, 2.5 kg of hashish and cannabis and more than 3,500 Oxycontin pills.
The financial gains of the drug crimes amounted to more than 380,000 euros.
According to the criminal indictment and results of a police investigation, the young man was found to be a central player in receiving the drugs in Finland and distributing them further.
The defendant, who was born in 2007, was found guilty of selling the drugs to dealers as well as to individual customers.
The district court also found the defendant guilty of illegally collecting debts. Among other things, he was found to have entered a man's home without permission to steal property.
Parents' charges dismissed
The young man's parents also faced charges for aggravated money laundering, but the court dismissed them.
The prosecutor had accused the parents of money laundering because they had stored the illegally gained funds to help their son.
During their investigation, police seized a total of more than 127,000 euros in cash, some of which was hidden in the young man's bedroom in Helsinki's Ullanlinna district, a neighbourhood known for its classic art nouveau buildings and seaside cafes.
Police seized nearly 40,000 euros in the defendant's bedroom during an initial search of the home.
According to the indictment, the parents discovered more cash in their son's room and then hid the money in a shoebox in their own bedroom. Police eventually found 69,800 euros in banknotes in his parents' possession.
The parents denied the charges, saying they didn't inform police about the money because they did not want to worsen their son's situation.
