“When you find these large amounts of drugs it is almost always a question of organized crime,” said Lars Hansson, narcotics expert at the Swedish Customs (Tullverket), to local paper Skånskan.

Police had in April been carrying out a surveillance mission against a property in Swedish small town Rydsgård, located between Malmö and Ystad, when they spotted a car pulling up to the house, and then leaving some ten minutes later.

Following the car and stopping it a while later, officers discovered 44.1 kilogrammes of Cannabis in the vehicle. In a raid on the house, officers found another 49 kilogrammes of the substance as well as twenty-four 500-euro notes, according to Skånskan.

The driver, a 55-year-old British citizen, claims that he was acting as a courier under threat and refuses to divulge to the authorities the destination to where he was to deliver the drugs.

According to Skånskan, the Swedish man who owns the property said that he has amassed some debts and had therefore contacted a friend who is involved with drugs smuggling.

He has admitted to being in possession of some 20 kilogrammes of cannabis but claims not to know where the rest comes from.

However, Hansson told Skånskan that dealing with such amounts it is not very relevant if officers found 20 or 40 kilogrammes.

“What they will be looking at is if this is done for own gain and if it is part of an organized network,” he told the paper.

The two men have been in custody with police for the last three months while an international investigation has been carried out with help from police in other European countries.

The Local/rm