The trial started Monday in Oulu District Court against a woman accused of, in separate instances, together with a male defendant, having prepared a ‘thermos bomb’ and transporting a large amount of narcotics into Finland from Sweden. According to the prosecutor, the duo was working for a Swedish criminal organization T-Falange, operating out of southern Sweden.
The two are accused of building a bomb in a hotel room in Helsinki in September of last year, intended to blow up the entryway of an apartment building in Vantaa, a city north of the capital. The bomb was never detonated, as the duo abandoned the plan—according to the man, after realizing it could potentially harm people. The woman denies being part of the bomb-making and claims only to have chauffeured the man.
Harder to weasel out of for the woman is a separate charge of transporting drugs, discovered after police pulled her over for doing 160 km/h in a 100 km/h zone. Police found over 157 kg of amphetamine and more than 20,000 ecstasy pills in her vehicle, estimated at €5 million in street value. Police also arrested four men who, in a separate car, were allegedly supervising the transport.
The prosecutor has demanded long prison sentences for all of the accused: 8–10 years for the four in the escort vehicle; 9–10 years for the alleged bomb maker; and a maximum sentence of 13 years for the woman, all unconditional sentences.
