On the 6th of December representatives of the Estonian customs attended public media program, Ringvaade, and warned citizens not to order psychotropic substances and counterfeits by mail, writes EER News.
Ülle Viisak, the development specialist at the customs authority, told the program that customs checks all packages coming from third countries and related to a specific brand. She also showed some confiscated items and told that customs actually destroy such items. Counterfeit items are confiscated according to the instructions of the brand owners. «Some know that they are ordering fakes, and some are also involved in selling them,» Viisak added, talking about persons who orders fakes.
Raul Koppelmaa reminded that narcotic and psychotropic substances are not allowed to be sent by mail. He noted that the number of such shipments has increased tremendously in the past two years.
«One of the things that gives us major headaches is medications that contain psychotropic substances,» he said, citing the sedative Xanax as a classic example.
Koppelmaa said one of the reasons for the increase in such referrals is the economic situation, which forces people to work disproportionately long hours and takes a toll on mental health. There are various reasons why medicines are ordered instead of bought at a pharmacy. Some people are ashamed to buy medicines in a pharmacy, while others find it easier to order them on the internet, and some believe that the prescribed dose is too small.
Estonian customs has launched the campaign «Substances by mail? Consider the penalty!», which is designed to draw attention to the fact that ordering psychotropic substances by mail can have serious consequences, including criminal convictions. Narcotic and psychotropic substances, medical goods containing these substances, medical products, the use of which is not allowed in Estonia, as well as smokeless tobacco products are among the orders seized by customs.
Until the beginning of December, customs in Estonia initiated 171 criminal cases and 184 criminal proceedings, and 40 and 10 of them, respectively, are related to psychotropic substances.