Finnish court largely upholds sentences in Anom drug case

The Helsinki Court of Appeal has largely upheld prison sentences in an extensive Finnish drug case linked to an FBI operation, Yle reports.

The District Court convicted nearly 60 people in October 2023. Most were sentenced for aggravated drug offences.

The court found that more than 1,000 kilograms of drugs, including cocaine, amphetamine and marijuana, were brought into Finland in 2020 and 2021. The longest sentences were 13 years in prison, imposed on 14 people.

There were 51 parties to the proceedings before the Court of Appeal. In its ruling on Thursday, the court reduced some sentences for individual drug and money laundering offences. It did not reduce the sentences of those who received 13 years in prison from the District Court.

The Court of Appeal said sentences were largely unchanged for defendants who committed offences as part of organised criminal groups formed specifically to carry out drug crimes.

The District Court found that several criminal groups were involved. Their members had clear divisions of labour and areas of responsibility, and the groups operated internationally, particularly in Finland, the Netherlands, Spain and Estonia.

FBI operation at the centre of case

The case is linked to the international Greenlight operation, in which criminals in several countries were deceived into using Anom, a communications platform developed by the FBI.

Anom phones were marketed mainly to people involved in organised crime, with communication advertised as completely secret. In reality, messages sent through the phones were stored on a server controlled by the FBI, which passed them on to other countries.

Numerous people in Finland and elsewhere have been sentenced to prison based on messages obtained during the operation. Thursday’s ruling is the largest case uncovered in Finland using the FBI-developed messaging application.

Court rejects bid to exclude messages

In addition to Anom messages, prosecutors presented a substantial amount of evidence from the encrypted Sky ECC messaging application, which authorities had accessed.

The defence asked both the District Court and the Court of Appeal to prohibit the use of the Anom and Sky ECC messages as evidence. The Court of Appeal agreed with the District Court that there were no grounds for excluding them.

Finland’s Supreme Court also addressed the use of Anom messages as evidence in a precedent-setting ruling in February 2023. It found that the messages could be used in court even though authorities had obtained them unlawfully.

The Supreme Court said the FBI operation had, in principle, violated the protection of private life and confidential communications. However, the seriousness of the violation was reduced by factors including the operation’s aim of combating serious crime that threatened public safety.