Drug-related criminal cases – use, possession, trafficking and defence

Drug-related criminal cases may vary greatly in severity. A single instance of use, possession of a small quantity, occasional transfer and suspicion of trafficking, distribution or organised commission all represent very different legal situations.

One of the most important issues for the defence is what offence the authority considers provable, what quantity it establishes and whether, based on the available evidence, the conduct is consumer-related or distribution-related.

Specific statutory offences

In drug-related cases, the authority most often proceeds on suspicion of possession of narcotic drugs or drug trafficking. Possession may include acquisition, keeping, cultivation or production, while typical forms of trafficking include offering, transfer, placing on the market and trading.

For the precise legal classification, it may be decisive whether the narcotic drug was intended for personal use, whether there was any transfer or sale, how the substance was packaged, what communication is found on the phone and what money movements or measuring devices were discovered.

Quantity and sentencing ranges

Sentencing ranges are fundamentally influenced by whether the case involves a small quantity, a basic quantity, a significant quantity or a particularly significant quantity. For quantity classification, it is usually not the gross weight but the pure active-substance content that is relevant, so the chemical expert opinion is central evidence.

In cases of a trafficking nature, the sentencing range may be substantially more severe, especially in cases involving particularly significant quantities, criminal association, business-like commission, involvement of a minor, the vicinity of an educational or child-protection institution, or organised commission. In consumer-type, small-quantity cases, however, milder assessment or the possibility of diversion may arise.

Investigative specificities

In drug-related cases, searches of clothing and vehicles, house searches, phone seizures, analysis of messages, camera footage, toxicology examinations and chemical expert opinions are common. The authority often tries to infer from communication and packaging whether the case concerns use or trafficking.

The defence must check the regularity of seizure, sampling, handling of the substance and expert examination. It is also essential when the messages found on a phone were created, to whom they relate, and whether they genuinely refer to narcotic drugs or whether the authority is merely building assumptions on them.

Diversion and defence options

In certain consumer-type cases, an alternative conclusion of the criminal proceedings or the possibility of diversion may arise. Its conditions must always be examined on the basis of the specific facts of the case, because quantity, prior record, the conduct involved and previous proceedings may all influence the available options.

If the authority assumes a trafficking intent, one of the most important tasks of the defence may be to show that the quantity, packaging, communication and money movements do not support distribution-related conduct.

Typical judicial assessment points

Courts in drug-related cases usually attach considerable weight to the quantity, the method of packaging, the presence of scales or bags, cash, telephone communication and whether there were actual transfers or buyers.

From the defence perspective, a frequent point of dispute is whether the authority mistakenly evaluates a consumer relationship network as a trafficking network, and what sentencing range is supported by the active-substance content established by the expert opinion.

When is a lawyer needed urgently?

In drug-related cases, it is particularly important that the person concerned does not make an ill-considered statement. A poorly worded sentence may move consumer-type conduct towards suspicion of trafficking.

If you or a relative have been summoned, produced before the authority or subjected to a house search in connection with possession, use, transfer, trafficking or cultivation of narcotic drugs, seek defence assistance immediately.