2 teenagers suspected of attempted murder in Vantaa

The Helsinki Police completed an investigation into a series of criminal acts including attempted murder where four people including three teenagers are facing various charges, said police on Monday.

The crimes were unearthed during the investigation into a suspected arson took place in building at Korso in Vantaa last year.

Police submitted a pre-trial investigation report to the prosecutor for consideration of charges.

The pre-trial investigation revealed that the arson occurred on December 17, 2025 had been planned in a highly systematic way.

The fire spread very quickly and posed an immediate threat to the lives of all the residents in the stairwell.

The stairwell was the building’s only exit route, so the rescue services had to evacuate several people through windows. The entire stairwell was engulfed in life-threatening combustion fumes and flames. The most intense area of fire was in front of the target apartment, and it posed a real risk of spreading into the apartment.

“The pre-trial investigation indicated that the arson deliberately targeted the home of a close relative of a previously sought debtor and the stairwell connected to it. Fortunately, the fire brigade arrived quickly and brought the fire under control. It was only by luck that serious personal injury was avoided,” said Detective Chief Inspector of Helsinki Police Department, Markku Juurikkamäki, who is also the head investigator of the case.

The adults who planned the crime bought a mobile phone with a subscription specifically for the crime. The phone and subscription were given to two 15-year-old suspects, who were instructed to use the phone to commit arson at the address in question. One of them is suspected of starting the fire using a flammable liquid directed at the target apartment in accordance with the instructions he had received.

A total of four people are suspected of aggravated criminal mischief and attempted murder, and they are all in custody.

According to the pre-trial investigation, one of them had visited the scene a few days earlier, searching for a drug debtor.

Based on the pre-trial investigation, the police suspect that a drug debt led to reprisals in a case of arson and attempted murder.

The crimes under investigation include attempted murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated criminal mischief, an aggravated narcotics offence, and aggravated violation of domestic privacy.

Three suspects, who were 15 years old at the time of the incident, remain in custody. Two of them are suspected of attempted murder and all three are also suspected of aggravated narcotics offences.

The young age of the suspects and the seriousness of the crimes are exceptional in pre-trial investigations into organised crime in Finland.

Several suspects have connections to street gangs in Northern Helsinki, and the crimes are considered to have been committed, at least to some extent, as part of an organised criminal group.

The pre-trial investigation indicates that the incidents arose in the wake of a failed drug deal in December 2025. This gave rise to a debt and sparked a chain of events that led to arson and attempted murder.

Shortly after the drug deal, three men went to an apartment in Helsinki, looking for the person who owed money for the drug deal. The debtor was not present. The people in the apartment were threatened with violence if they failed to reveal the debtor’s whereabouts. At least one suspect had a weapon, and these suspects threatened to blow up the apartment.

One of the suspects was arrested during a drug deal. He had managed to hand over three kilograms of amphetamines to another person. A working firearm and approximately €7,000 in cash were seized from the 15-year-old suspect at the time of his arrest.

In addition, the police discovered an apartment in a nearby building where the three 15-year-olds had stored and distributed drugs.

All of them are suspected of involvement in the handling and distribution of significant quantities of narcotics. Approximately 15 kilograms of amphetamines and over €10,000 in cash were seized from the apartment.

Based on preliminary investigations, the drug dealing and related acts of revenge were orchestrated from abroad. Several people have been involved in their implementation and preparation.

Several adults were involved in the incidents in Finland in addition to the three 15-year-old suspects. The pre-trial investigation is now complete and focuses on ten suspects, seven of whom remain in custody.

The suspects are citizens of Finland, Somalia, Kosovo, and Iraq. One holds dual citizenship in Finland and Somalia, and another in Finland and Kosovo.