Norwegian police were rolling up one of the country’s largest drug cases, with at least 27 plantations uncovered across Eastern Norway and nearly 50 gardeners in custody by late February 2008.[1] Most of those held were of Vietnamese origin and many had no legal residence in the country.[1] About 10,000 plants had been seized, worth close to 150 million kroner at street level once fully grown.[1]
The investigation was centralized under Kripos, the National Criminal Investigation Service, with the economic-crime unit following the money and Customs examining possible cannabis exports from Norway.[2] By early March, 35 plantations had been found within a 200-kilometre radius of Oslo, and more than 80 people were suspected or charged across nine police districts.[2] Police saw links to England, the Netherlands and Canada as well as neighbouring countries, and Danish police joined a coordination meeting at Kripos headquarters in Oslo.[2] Most suspects were Vietnamese, pointing to international branches with possible ties to human smuggling and arranged marriages.[2]
The Enebakk finds
Police raided a home in Kirkebygda in Enebakk on a Friday evening and found about 400 cannabis plants plus 100 pots possibly used for an already harvested crop.[3] Two days earlier, another nursery had been uncovered in Enebakk.[3]
