Seizures of the highly dangerous narcotic alpha-PVP (alpha-pyrrolidine valerophenone) have increased significantly in Finland, said National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in a press release on Wednesday.
According to the Forensic Laboratory of the NBI, more than eight kilograms of alpha-PVP, also known by the street name “peukku” in Finnish, has been seized this year, while the amount was less than 500 grams during the whole of 2020.
In 2023, just under five kilograms of alpha-PVP were seized, and in 2024, under six kilograms were seized.
Most seizures have been made in the areas of the Helsinki, Eastern Uusimaa, Häme and Central Finland Police Departments.
Alfa-PVP is the most common new psychoactive narcotic in Finland and it has been used widely for a long period of time as an intoxicant.
Its use has increased significantly in the Helsinki metropolitan area since the beginning of 2022 as indicated by the continuous wastewater monitoring by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
Alpha-PVP was classified as a narcotic in Finland at the end of 2013.
The use of alpha-PVP is particularly visible on the streets of the Helsinki metropolitan area, and it has been found to make users more unpredictable and violent. The use of alpha-PVP causes agitation, paranoid psychosis, violent behaviour, confusion and cognitive problems, among other things.
A single dose of alpha-PVP varies from 1 milligram to 25 milligrams, depending on the method of administration. Due to the low single dose, alpha-PVP involves a serious risk of overdose, and the drug is comparable to amphetamine and methamphetamine in terms of its dangerousness and other characteristics.
The police have been concerned for a long period of time over the increasing use of narcotics as well as drug, violence, property and other related crimes and the human suffering they cause. The problems caused by narcotics are a complex and multifaceted problem for which there is no unambiguous and easy solution.
“The police are one of the many parties involved in solving substance abuse problems, and the powers and means available to the police focus on the prevention of disturbances and crimes, maintaining security and conducting criminal investigations,” said Chief Superintendent of the NBI Tuomas Pöyhönen.
In recent years, the police have uncovered international criminal networks operating in Finland. These have manufactured alpha-PVP and other alpha drugs in their laboratories abroad, and then smuggled the drugs for further distribution in Finland. According to the observations made by the police, the distribution network of alpha-PVP has been arranged in a very professional manner so that each person involved has a predetermined task. Some members of the criminal network serve as distributors of the substance, others collect money and some are responsible for the practical arrangements required by the operations, such as the reception, transport, storage and guarding of the material smuggled into the country.
“The police are investigating a few cases where alpha-PVP has been manufactured here in Finland or where preparations for the manufacture of the drug in Finland have been made. In these cases, the substances necessary for the manufacture of alpha-PVP have been procured and ordered from outside Finland,” Pöyhönen added.
“There are certainly many reasons why the use of alpha-PVP has become more common, but one of the main reasons is that it is suitable for parallel use with amphetamine, or it replaces amphetamine altogether. Amphetamine has been the most commonly-used narcotic among drug abusers in Finland, and now alpha-PVP has emerged alongside it,” said Pöyhönen.
Another key reason for the increased use of alpha-PVP is that the substance is used in many different ways. Alpha-PVP can be used by smoking, vaporising and inhaling, injecting intravenously, sniffing, absorbing into the oral mucosa and ingesting.
“In addition, it can be used by vaping, in other words with an e-cigarette. This method of use is particularly worrying. It may attract new users and new experiments. The possibilities of different uses can increase the demand for narcotics and thus their supply, which may also have an impact on the price of narcotics. All of the above-mentioned factors together may increase the use of alpha-PVP and therefore cause problems for the users and the society as a whole,” Pöyhönen said.
The police have intensified their measures to control the selling of alpha-PVP both on the streets and online. In addition to street surveillance that is visible to citizens, the police actively monitor online drug trafficking in co-operation with other authorities.