- I took this job because we had no good life. We needed money and I wanted to help my family.

So the man who came from an Asian country to Malmö told me to work in what is described as a drug factory in Malmö's central entertainment district. The apartment was equipped with millions of empty capsules and powdered pregabalin.

Pregabalin is a drug for, among other things, epilepsy and anxiety, which was classified as drug last year.

In the apartment near Lilla Torg in Malmö there was a drug factory, where pregabalin powder was packaged in capsules and then sent out to customers by mail. Photo: Police / Customs / Tove Hansson

Sold large quantities of pregabalin

In November, the charge came against four young men suspected of serious drug offenses. They must have been part of a company-like network that smuggled pregabalin from China and sold it to customers around Sweden via postal items.

Operations should have included SEK 18 million.

Several foreign workers have also come to Malmö over the years to work on packing pregabalin powder in capsules for shorter periods.

Between two mattresses in the apartment were found numerous capsules and envelopes. Photo: The preliminary investigation

The man from the Asian country is one of the defendants. He should have received the job offer in his home country and then gone to the Malmö apartment. The monthly salary was equivalent to SEK 18,000.

- He offered me this job, to pack medicine and send it to mailboxes. He said don't worry, this is legal, the man told the court on Tuesday.

Now, the defendants risk between seven and nine years in prison. All refuse a crime but admit certain parts.

Designated principal still free

The man who is said to have controlled everything from abroad via an encrypted app is not prosecuted. The evidence was not enough to get him extradited and prosecuted.

"He is the man who always controlled me, everything," said the foreign worker during the trial.