Jensen has supposedly received at least 2.1 million Norwegian Crowns (about 251,640 USD) from Cappelen in exchange for insider information which has helped him to smuggle hash from Morocco, Spain, The Netherlands and Denmark for years. Cappelen is believed to have made between 1 and 2 billion Norwegian Crowns (about 119,135,491- 238,270,982 USD). Jensen denies the accusations, while Cappelen admits to everything.
Jensen first met Capellen in 1993 and recruited him as an informant. Cappelen started smuggling hash the same year.
Suspicious Text Messages
Jensen is accused of helping Cappelen by sending him cryptic text messages notifying him of when the police and customs officers were keeping an eye on him and what kind of resources the police had.
According to NRK, Jensen sent a text message to Cappelen in April 2011 saying “It looks good now. Quiet and sunny.” On that day, both the department of the police office that is responsible for drug crimes, and the Special Operations department were closed after 2pm, according to Special Operations.
Jensen claims that he was simply talking about the weather and that it was not code. 200 kilograms of hash were said to have been smuggled into Norway that day, according to NRK. This is just one example of many suspicious text messages sent between Cappelen and Jensen, many of which were about the weather and the sun.
On December 19th, 2013, 109 kilograms of hash were found in Cappelens warehouse in Oslo. The police forged the break-in because they were suspicious that Jensen and Cappelen were collaborating. The police wanted to influence them to contact each other so that they could monitor their communication. They acted as predicted and the police got the evidence that they were after.
Hidden and Laundered Money
Undercover officers witnessed Gjermund Cappelen give an envelope of money to Eirik Jensen in 2013. Jensen claims that he had loaned money to Cappelen and that Cappelen was paying him back. Cappelen explains that he was paying Jensen for his role in the smuggling. 34,000 Norwegian Crowns (about 4,050 USD) were later found hidden in a wall in Jensen’s home.
Some of the pay that Jensen is believed to have received from Cappelen came in the form of remodelling his bathroom. The estimated value of the remodel is about 300,000 Norwegian Crowns (about 35,740 USD). Jensen denies accusations that Cappelen was involved in that project. He said that he was unable to pay the man who remodeled his bathroom because he could not get in contact with him. According to Aftenposten, the man died in 2012.
Cappelen has been under investigation for laundering money in Switzerland. He admits to it and insists that all of the money has been lost in investments. Judge Kim Heger does not trust Cappelen’s claim that the money is gone. The police are still looking for the rest of the money, which is believed to be hidden or laundered both in Norway and abroad.
The trial is taking place at Tinghuset in Oslo. It has been going on for three weeks and will continue until June 15th.