Last year, the Swedish Customs seized 58 firearms, which can be compared with 2018 when 41 firearms were seized.

The number of seizures increased from 34 to 49.

This is the result of the authority in 2019 initiating a special initiative against arms smuggling and the fact that budget appropriations have increased.

- We can do more checks in the country, which is positive, says Lars Kristoffersson, head of law enforcement at the Swedish Customs.

In addition, the authority also seized 23 starting and gas weapons.

It can sound harmless, starting pistols are for example common in the sports world and are built to fire loose shots while gas pistols can be built to fire pepper spray.

However, converting these weapons to real firearms is relatively simple and for a couple of years now they have been common in police investigations into gang crime.

"Becoming more and more popular"

The gas pistols - Ekol and Zoraki are the most common models seized by customs - are bought brand new in EU countries where they are legal.

The weapons are most often found in the mail and courier flow, but also appear in connection with house searches or seizures at the border.

Those who are not seized can, among other things, appear in gang shootings.

- They are becoming increasingly popular and there are several examples of when rebuilt starting and gas weapons have been used for criminal purposes.

Are they harder for you to spot?

- No, but they are easier to get hold of.

Has arms smuggling increased?

- There are some who say that we have such a large influx of weapons and we do not really see that.

We do about 70-80,000 checks per year and we find quite a lot of drugs at the border, but we certainly do not find as many weapons, says Lars Kristoffersson and continues:

- We believe that there will be a little smaller parties from time to time, unlike drugs that come very often and where we make seizures almost every day.

In addition, firearms are not a fresh product but can be used in several shootings.

Found in criminal circles

According to Lars Kristoffersson, the smuggling of gas and starting pistols began to increase about five years ago.

- We do the same analysis as the police, they find more starting and gas weapons in criminal circles.

The Swedish Customs seizes between 40 and 60 weapons annually.

At the same time, the Swedish Customs is waiting for new legislation.

- Today we are not allowed to use secret coercive measures such as telephone tapping, but this is changing.