Fifty-six kilos of amphetamine were confiscated onboard a vessel in Fáskrúdsfjördur harbor in east Iceland yesterday, a cooperation between the Icelandic police and Europol which extended to other parts of the country and the European mainland.
Five Icelandic citizens were arrested in relation to the case, ruv.is reports.
Iceland’s Minister of Justice Björn Bjarnason said the drug bust indicates that supervision with ships and aircrafts destined for Iceland should be tightened.
Bjarnason claimed yesterday’s operation had delivered results due to organizational changes within the police authority, revealing how important it is for police forces to coordinate.
According to Morgunbladid, dozens of police officers around Iceland participated in yesterday’s project, including 25 special forces officers, members of the Coast Guard and the Drug Department of the capital region police, which undertook the investigation, dubbed the “Polar Star,” leading to yesterday’s bust.
National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police Haraldur Johannessen was also satisfied with yesterday’s operation. “It was very well organized and I think everyone connected to the vessel walked straight into the arms of the police and were taken by surprise.”
“We have upheld a state of confidentiality within the police for a very long time, which shows that Icelandic police institutions are capable of organizing such extensive projects, which stretch into the international community, without leaking information,” Johannessen concluded.
According to Bladid, yesterday’s drug bust was the most extensive police operation of this kind ever to be undertaken in Iceland.
