Appeal court keeps two men in custody over 12.5kg drug import
Thursday 22nd October 2026 on 18:01 in
Iceland
Iceland’s Court of Appeal has upheld continued detention of two men suspected of helping organise the import of more than 10.5kg of amphetamine and nearly 2kg of cocaine, mbl.is reported. The drugs were found hidden in a motorhome that arrived in Iceland in May.
The men’s detention is considered necessary in the public interest and may continue until 4pm on November 10. The rulings were issued on October 20. Both men have been in custody continuously since May 30.
Charges have been filed against the two men and their alleged accomplices. The main hearing at Reykjavik District Court took place on October 8 and 9, and the case is now under consideration.
According to district court rulings, three foreign men arrived by ship with the motorhome on May 27. Two alleged accomplices were arrested in the vehicle on May 29 on suspicion of drug smuggling. Police found the drugs concealed inside it.
Police analysis and an assessment by the University of Iceland identified 10,546.15 grams of amphetamine with a purity of 59 to 65 per cent, and 1,989.83 grams of cocaine with a purity of 86 per cent.
Prosecutors allege the two men helped plan the import and communicated with their alleged accomplices. They are also said to have met foreign individuals in Iceland before the drugs were brought into the country.
District court documents cited evidence that the men had agreed on how to explain their meeting with the foreign individuals. Prosecutors also said a text matching both men’s accounts was found on an alleged accomplice’s phone. The man told police the meeting had been a coincidence and denied coordinating his account with the other defendant.
The district court also referred to Signal messages and information from foreign police as supporting suspicion that the men had played significant roles and had accomplices abroad. A ruling concerning one man also cited phone intercepts.
At the case’s formal opening on September 11, one man denied the charges. The other denied most of them but admitted one count, which the custody ruling did not detail. He had previously told police he sold steroids, peptides and occasional small amounts of amphetamine. The first man admitted possessing small quantities of drugs and steroids found at his home but declined to comment on the import.