Drug trafficking in the kilogram range

The Zug Criminal Court has sentenced two men who were involved in drug trafficking. The two of them did many things together, but not everything. This had a decisive impact on the sentences that were handed down.

The Zug criminal court recently dealt with a case in the category of “prohibited trafficking in narcotics”. This had been carried out on a large scale, as can be seen from the indictments of the two accused, who are now 38 and 39 years old respectively.

The police made a big catch about five years ago. The case involved 65.8 kilograms of marijuana, as well as 4 kilograms of a cocaine mixture with a high degree of purity.

The marijuana came from a hemp plantation in the Ennetsee area. The man who was responsible for the growth of the plants also belonged to the circle of narcotics traffickers, but had already been sentenced for his actions in a separate proceeding.

According to the indictments, the cocaine, on the other hand, is said to have been acquired from an unspecified person at an unknown location. The location of purchase could have been “in or near Zurich”, however.

Margins that small dealers can only dream of
What is clear, however, is that the 39-year-old defendant in the current case in Zug paid the drug courier CHF 40,000 for a kilogram of cocaine with a purity of 94%, which he then sold to one of the accused for CHF 45,000 per kilogram.

A good business
Normally, however, the two defendants in the Zug trial could only dream of such margins, and often seemed content to at least get their stake back. They even tried to give half of the cocaine deal (two kilograms) back to the supplier.

That the investigating authorities were able to trace this large-scale drug trafficking is thanks to the ‘bugging’ (hidden microphone installation) of the apartment of a person living in the canton of Zug. Much less evidence would have come to light without this measure. These “Zuger tapes” helped the investigators to stop this drug trade that was being controlled from Baar. These recordings were used in court in reference to previous statements made to the police by the two accused.

At other stages of the trial, the two defence attorneys referred to the recordings of the various conversation, and raised the objection that this evidence was based on an inaccurate translation.

The two defendants had dealt with locally-grown hemp        Symbolic photo: Patrick Lüthy
The entrance area of the Zug Criminal Court in the cantonal administration complex on the Aa in Zug         Photo:                 Werner Schelbert

For example, the public prosecutor had added the word ‘kilogram’ to a number mentioned in the wiretapping protocol, and this was an interpretation that the two accused and their defence lawyers disputed. It actually required the utmost concentration to follow the proceedings of the criminal court, with ‘kilograms’, various names and amounts of money making correct assignments complicated.

The collegiate court thereby worked hard to maintain an overview of the events. The drug offences now date back around five years, and the two accused thereby hoped for a happy ending. What made matters worse for both defendants, however, was that, although they are now family men, they had re-offended since the drug deals in question.

The accused also tried to score points with the judges by informing the court that they were now living in orderly family circumstances. There are now children and enough work in the meantime.

The 39-year-old man from Central Switzerland received a prison sentence of four years and ten months from the court for serious violations of the Narcotics Act. His colleague got away with a suspended sentence of 20 months. In the latter case, the court concluded that there was no qualified violation of the law.

The sentences are not yet legally binding.