The Finnish National Opera’s Chief Conductor Hannu Lintu has been charged with a drug offense.

The national broadcaster YLE  reported that the offense was committed in Vantaa on November 7, 2023 and that a court date has yet to be announced.

In a statement, the conductor said the case was about ordering sleeping pills by mail. He said, “I have been stupid and ordered sleeping pills by post, they have been left at the airport’s Customs, in which case the event is in Vantaa. I have no idea what the prosecutor is proposing now. This is the background: I haven’t started transporting barrels of hashish.”

He added that he started using sleeping pills during the pandemic and said, “I use them when traveling when I cross time zones and I have to get some sleep for work. It has been an important, controlled chemical aid that has kept me in working condition.”

Lintu next conducts the Gulbenkian Orchestra and returns to the Finnish National Opera in May.