29-year-old Cuban Mel Hidalgo tells Ilta-Sanom that she trusts her husband completely. Niko Ranta-aho, who was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the Katiska drug ring, was recently released from prison.
Ranta-aho in the Court of Appeal from the beginning of 2024. He was released from prison at the beginning of February 2026 on probation. Henri Kärkkäinen
Niko Ranta-ahon, 38, who was sentenced to prison for the Katiska drug ring, is engaged Mel Hidalgo tells Ilta-Sanom in an interview about his relationship with Ranta-aho.
The couple’s relationship began in 2024, when Ranta-aho approached the woman with a message on Instagram. As a result of the messaging, Hidalgo flew to Finland to meet Ranta-aho in prison. They fell in love and began a long-distance relationship.
29-year-old Hidalgo tells IS that he was impressed that Ranta-aho told honestly about his life situation at the beginning of the message.
– The fact that Niko told me the truth at the very beginning and not only after several months of messaging made me trust him, the woman says in the interview.
Ranta-aho was released from prison on probation at the beginning of February. Now they live together in a rental triangle in the value area of Helsinki. The woman tells IS that she pays her share of the rent with her savings. She is a dancer by profession.
Hidalgo says in the interview that he is strongly against drug use.
– Niko knows that I would leave him if he continued his old life after prison. I trust him one hundred percent that it is a life left behind, Hidalgo tells IS.
Ranta-aho is one of the main perpetrators of the Katiska drug crime complex. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison for Katiska 1. Katiska 1’s long sentence reduced Ranta-aho’s sentence for Katiska 2 considerably. The sentence was two years in prison.
Consequently, Ranta-aho was sentenced to a total of 13 years in prison for serious drug crimes.
Ranta-aho and his father were charged with aggravated tax fraud last October.
Source: Ilta-Sanomat
