Police seize record 106-kilogram cocaine shipment in Straumsvík

The cocaine seized by police at Straumsvík this summer was highly pure, according to tests by the University of Iceland, mbl.is reports. The shipment weighed exactly 106,263.62 grams, making it the largest drug seizure by police in Iceland.

Details emerged in a Court of Appeal custody ruling concerning one of the people charged over the smuggling. Nine people have been charged in the case. Five foreign nationals face charges including organised criminal activity and a major drug offence, while three Icelanders are charged with involvement in receiving part of the shipment. All have denied the charges.

The investigation began after police received information about a man who arrived in Iceland in early summer with two diving suits, other diving equipment and two underwater scooters. Police suspected the equipment would be used to retrieve drugs brought into the country using what is known as the “parasite method”: hiding drugs on the outside of a ship or in its sea chest without the knowledge of its owners or crew.

Police later monitored foreign suspects as they prepared to retrieve the shipment. The cocaine was hidden in a sea chest on the alumina ship Koznitza, which arrived at Straumsvík from Brazil. Police seized the drugs and then watched as some of the shipment was handed on.

One Icelandic defendant is accused of attempting to receive about 30 kilograms of cocaine on June 24. Messages on his phone showed that shortly before the handover, he was told a man would arrive in two minutes in a large white van and was instructed to give the driver a specific banknote.

The man told police that another defendant had given him a 1,000-krona note before they set off. He said he handed it to the van’s driver, opened his own vehicle and received bags. He then drove to a building above his workshop and waited for the bags to be collected.

He denied knowing that the bags contained drugs. He said the other defendant had asked to use his vehicle and described the trip as a “small mission.” He acknowledged driving, taking the bags and putting them in the car, but said he did not know the people who handed them over or what the bags contained. Police also found Signal and WhatsApp messages that prosecutors say link him to preparations for and the handover of the drugs.