NORWAY: HEROIN SMUGGLED 'IN BODIES OF MURDERED BABIES'

SMUGGLERS have been bringing heroin into Norway inside the corpses of
murdered infants, according to a suspect in a drugs-related killing whose
claims were leaked to an Oslo newspaper.

The 'Dagbladet' newspaper said its report was based on a transcript of a
police interrogation in Stavanger, a main port city in Norway's south-west
region.

Police yesterday refused to confirm or deny the story.

The suspect claimed that smugglers of Vietnamese origin bought infants from
prostitutes in Paris and Germany, and took them to Denmark where they were
killed.

The corpses were then allegedly filled with bags of heroin and brought to
Norway by women pretending to be the infants' mothers. "They left their own
babies at home, and went to Denmark where they were given a prepared baby,"
the newspaper quoted the police transcript as saying.

"If customs officers started to look too closely, the women would say the
baby was ill and ask to be allowed to immediately rush it to a doctor."

The 26-year-old suspect, one of three arrested for a drug-related murder of
an 18-year-old boy in May, claimed the Vietnamese drug ring's leader had
told him about the practice.

The suspect claimed he was at the ringleader's Oslo apartment on one
occasion when a woman arrived with a baby, went into a back room with the
ring leader and emerged with two bags of heroin stained with blood. She did
not take the baby when she left the apartment, the suspect reportedly said.

Arve Bartnes, night editor of 'Dagbladet', said the story had caused
widespread revulsion in a city increasingly worried about its growing drug
problem.

"It is one of the worst stories we've seen, definitely. There is a very
strong fear in Norwegian society that foreign-based organised criminals are
trying to establish themselves in our country," he said.

Vietnamese dealers had already reportedly tried smuggling heroin by hiding
it under the clothing of live babies, he said, but the packets were too
easily found by customs officers. "Now it seems they have tried to hide it
inside murdered ones. I suppose they hope customs will just take a cursory
look at the baby without touching it," he said.

The unnamed 26-year-old is one of three Vietnamese suspects being held over
the murder of Tom Halversen, an 18-year-old high-school student who was
killed in May.

Mr Halversen was apparently shot twice in the back of the head in the
backroom of a pub, and his body was then weighted down and dumped in the
sea at a depth of 150ft, according to 'Dagbladet'.

"This appears to be the first time the Vietnamese gangs have spoken to the
police," said Mr Bartnes, although he added the police were now trying to
"put a lid" on the leaked transcript.

Three years ago, 15 Vietnamese gang members were arrested over the fatal
stabbing of a young Thai boy at Central Station in Oslo, but would not name
the culprit despite prolonged police questioning.

A trial date has not been set for the current murder case.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski