The lawyer: "Police infiltration activities must be regulated"

Lawyer Johan Eriksson has worked with cases of this type for many years and thinks that Operation Costa is a clear example of the police becoming more and more active in their role and that the boundaries have been moved significantly when it comes to what the police and prosecutors do when they infiltrate criminal organizations.

Operation Costa lasted for three years.

To access suspected large-scale international drug trafficking, a police officer infiltrated the transport industry as "Ivan".

Together with a German infiltrator, he was involved in transporting almost 400 kilos of cannabis to Sweden.

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Criminal provocation is prohibited

In Sweden, it is not allowed for police and prosecutors to entice people to commit crimes, so-called criminal provocation.

However, provocation of evidence is permissible;

that the police infiltrate an activity to obtain evidence of serious illegal activity that is suspected to be already in progress.

However, the boundary between them is not crystal clear in practice and attempts have been made to regulate this.

In 2007, a state inquiry was appointed to review the police's methods.

But the investigation did not lead to legislation on stricter rules.

With Operation Costa, the issue is brought up again.

- There were such difficult problems with legislation that they put it in the drawer, says Johan Eriksson, lawyer.

How should it be regulated?

- You should think about what happens if you approach a criminal provocation.

It is about clear documentation, that prosecutors must be involved - and that informants and infiltrators must be safe.

Nadim Ghazale, a police officer and expert in Crime of the Week, has limited insight into specifically the police's infiltrator activities, which are managed by a special unit within the National Operations Department (NOA) at the police.

But he believes that the police are hand-picked and that there are regulations in place.

And that the need for this type of police work is increasing:

- I know that those who work with this feel that they are tightly regulated and that there are practices and guidelines and the European Convention to comply with.

See more in Crime of the Week 23 February on SVT 1 at 9.30 pm and on SVT Play.