Copenhagen police crack 17-tonne hash ring; nine arrested
Copenhagen police announced in mid-September 2008 they had cracked what they called Denmark's largest hash case: a ring that imported up to 17 tonnes of hashish from Spain and the Netherlands over 18 months. Nine people were arrested, including the suspected ringleader and a German money courier; the hash was sold in Copenhagen and across Jutland.
Copenhagen police had secretly investigated the ring since January 2008 and arrested nine people, seizing the gang’s accounts, after what they called Denmark’s biggest ever cannabis case.[1][2]A criminal organisation had imported as much as 17 tonnes of cannabis from Spain and the Netherlands over about 18 months, distributing it in Copenhagen, including Christiania, and in Holstebro, Esbjerg, Horsens and Aarhus.[1][2]
A 46-year-old German woman working as a money courier and a 41-year-old Danish man believed to be the drug baron had been in custody since May, police superintendent Steffen Th. Steffensen said.[1][2]The woman was charged with ferrying DKK 53 million to the gang’s foreign accounts and was caught leaving Denmark with DKK 1.7 million.[1][2]Two suspected principals were caught south of Køge, sentences had already been passed for receiving 600 and 800 kg, and officers found a machine gun in one Jutland raid.[1]
Police linked the ring to the previous record case, the 13-tonne Atlantic Privateer shipment, for which Claus Malmqvist was serving a 16-year sentence; a fugitive wanted in that case was suspected of handling three tonnes of its cargo and working with the new gang.[1][2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The 17-tonne figure comes from the gang's seized accounts rather than cannabis physically seized; only 600 and 800 kg receipt cases had reached sentencing.
The announcement's exact day is uncertain; the Politiken article survives in Wayback captures from 18 September and was still current on 26 September, so 17 September is approximate.
The investigation was continuing with one fugitive suspect at large and further arrests expected.
No photograph of the raids, the suspects or the seized accounts with a recoverable direct image address was found; the original Politiken photo is no longer served.
Bornholms Politi arrested a 50-year-old male driver on Bornholm at 20:25 on Friday 6 November and charged him with possessing 13.2 grams of hashish and with driving while under the influence. The weekend police log gave no further details of the case.
On 2 October 2026 a Danish Customs narcotics dog marked three parcels at a parcel centre in the Copenhagen area, each holding more than 20 kg of cannabis. Tests found THC above the legal limit. The case went to Copenhagen Police. No arrest was reported.
A 26-year-old man from Lithuania was sentenced on 15 June 2026 to nine months in prison, deportation and a six-year re-entry ban after police found 787 cannabis plants, put at about 22 kg, in a greenhouse on Kringelhedevej near Sæby.
