The smuggling of alcholic beverages into finland in the 1990s

Abstract

This article looks at the quantities of alcohol smuggled into Finland in the mid-1990s and at changes in the smuggling of alcoholic beverages, both in quality and quantity, since the 1980s.

Estimates of the extent of smuggling can be based on various sources. This article makes use of two types of information. On the one hand, it employs interview material where the interviewees have been asked about their possible purchase and use of smuggled alcoholic beverages, and about their attitudes towards smuggling. On the other hand, it draws on existing official statistics and registers, mainly data on alcohol seized by customs and on unlawful import or export.

According to drinking habit surveys conducted in 1968-1992, self-reported purchases of smuggled alcohol remained at less than 100,000 litres of pure alcohol per annum. Seizures by customs totalled less than 5,000 litres of 100 % alcohol. However, this article clearly illustrates that the smuggling of alcoholic beverages has reached significant proportions since Finland joined the European Union in 1995.

Based on two different interview studies conducted in 1996, and taking into account the possibility of hiding and cover-ups, our assumption is that the amount of smuggled alcohol (all kinds included) in 1996 totalled approximately one million litres, that is, nearly 2 % of the official alcohol consumption in the country.

In 1995 customs seized 183,600 litres of alcohol; the figure in 1996 was 85,000. In 1995, most smuggled alcohol came to Finland in containers or trucks from the EU internal market. After new regulations were issued in 1996, there was a marked shift in smuggling preferences to transports from Estonia and Russia. The alcohol was smuggled into the country either hidden in vehicle structures or among the cargo.