NCJ Number
182749
Date Published
1999
Length
54 pages
Annotation
A study of crime across the border of Finland and Estonia gathered information from qualitative interviews of 20 Finnish and Estonian police and customs representatives in March-May 1998 as well as a review of police files and pretrial investigation records for 1993-98.
Abstract
Forty-one Finnish offenders were apprehended in Estonia during 1993-98 for crimes committed in Estonia; the number of offenses committed by Finns in Estonia has varied from 5 to 8 annually. These numbers are negligible compared to the number of Finns entering the country. Finnish police records reported that almost 200 persons known as offenders by the Finnish police had been observed to have cooperation or contacts with Estonian and Russian offenders in Estonia. In addition, more than 200 enterprises were suspected as functioning as a front to criminal activities. The traffic between Finland and Estonia has increased rapidly since 1991 and provides opportunities for smuggling of metals, weapons, alcohol, tobacco, narcotics into Finland and stolen goods into Estonia. Finns have also been committing economic crimes and frauds in Estonia, have participated in illegal exports of cars to Estonia, and have taken advantage of Estonia’s low income level by involving Estonians in commercial sex. Findings indicated that semiprofessional and organized crime by Finns in the Finnish-Estonian border setting involves a large number of people as compared with what official records record, most activities are not highly professional, and official records note that many companies have suspect operations. Finally, cross-border police cooperation is not efficiently addressing these issues. Footnotes, table, 10 references, and list of the publisher’s other publications