Most gang members are second-generation immigrants to Sweden (European News Agency)

Sweden is facing an escalation in violence linked to drug and weapons smuggling, and its main cities have remained under the fire of score-settling between increasingly dangerous and influential rival gangs, causing many casualties on both sides in a war that claims casualties almost every day.

With this entry, the French website "Media Part" opened the topic of drugs and gangs in Sweden, after members of the largest mafia groups agreed for the first time to narrate how these gangs operate, in a joint investigation between Hossam Hammoud and Benjamin Young.

The investigation reviewed that at least 47 people were killed in 314 shooting incidents in 2023, according to police, a far greater number than the seven deaths recorded in 2016, as the “Shoots” gang (armed gangsters in Jamaican English) fight rival groups for... Controlling the drug and weapons market.

The site met with Alex (29 years old) in one of the buildings away from the center in the second largest city in Sweden. He is a member of the Shotazz gang. This is the first time that one of the most important drug traffickers in Sweden has spoken to journalists. He placed a holster over his head, and the knife was The fighter is close by, and he begins, speaking in broken English, "I just got this apartment back. I took it from a man who owes me money."

The only thing in the apartment is a printer that is “used to make false documents, for example, forging invoices for trucks that regularly transport drugs from Poland,” explains Alex, who launders his illegal activities through a legal import-export company.

This son, born in Sweden to Palestinian immigrants, considers himself different from “other Swedes,” as “people are born into separate societies, and this country is divided into several constituencies that do not mix, Arabs with Arabs, blacks with blacks, Albanians with Albanians. I have never been close to "White Swedes, except for the police. They are absent from our environment."

Recruitment

Alex, who began working with gangs at the age of 24 and heads between 12 and 15 individuals, each of whom is at the head of his own network, adds that gangs employ minors because Swedish law is more flexible with them compared to adults, as those under the age of 15 are considered not criminally responsible. It is also more lenient towards those under the age of 18.

Some of these minors are also being recruited to carry out assassinations, and indeed the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention said that the police have opened 336 investigations related to the illegal possession of firearms among people between the ages of 15 and 17 years in 2022.

This policy implemented by mafia networks has devastating and tragic effects, as many of these teenagers are killed, as “hundreds of children work in gangs in Sweden, and many of them are killed, sometimes due to their immaturity, and recently one of them was killed because he published details of his activity on a social networking site.” On Snapchat, as the second gangster explains.

Margin between 600 and 800%

“What we fear most in this industry is rival groups,” Alex continues, becoming nervous. “They can hire anyone to eliminate you, even a child can kill for money. You must always be vigilant.”

Alex specializes in smuggling quick amphetamines that are consumed by swallowing, snorting, or injecting.

"The customers are mostly wealthy white Swedes," he says. "We give them free doses three or four times as large to get them addicted."

Alex sees what he does as nothing but a very profitable business. “Over the past three months, once all expenses are covered, I put about 100,000 euros in my pocket. I make a margin of between 600 and 800% on the medicines I sell,” he says.

A Swedish beach (Getty Images)

in late Time of night

The two journalists say that their next meeting began late at night, on one of the main streets in downtown Goteborg, in a video game bar with Qais, but the conversations took place in a quiet hotel lounge out of sight.

When Qais, whose gun bears the Shotaz symbol, arrived in Sweden in 2016, he was placed with a foster family, and “this was not what I planned for,” he says, “and since all I was fluent in was the English language, my plan was to start a new life in the Kingdom.” "But when I was arrested as an illegal immigrant minor, I was placed and forced to seek asylum here."

It took him 3 years to obtain the necessary papers to be entitled to work, and he met people of Somali origin. “I approached a person named Yassin, who offered me a job.”

He added, "I started working as a postman in 2017. We did not talk about the content. The first time the matter became serious, I was asked to deliver half a kilo of drugs and I won 2,000 kroner (178 euros)." Thus, Qais launched his first steps within the Shootaz gang. newly created.

“Over time, they started giving me bigger assignments, such as escorting drug shipments from Poland,” Qais says. “I gained their trust and advanced through the ranks. I specialized in smuggling Tramadol, a powerful opiate. Then I no longer performed any assignments personally, as I became interested in management.”

Stortorget Square, Stockholm, Sweden (Shutterstock)

Network organization

Qais is now one of the ten people who make up the heart of the gang, and he explains in detail the organization of the network, “There are about 100 members, including about 30 main members. We travel across Europe using fake Italian identity cards sent to us by a forger residing in Greece.”

Qais explains that he was withdrawn from operations today, “I received two bullets when a teenager from the rival Somali gang (Death Patrols) tried to kill me in front of my house,” so I picked up his gun and shot him, which the Swedish courts considered self-defense.”

He adds, "Since then, I have stayed away from traffic to preserve my health. But even if I no longer work with Shootaz, I continue to receive income from them, in appreciation of the efforts I have made for them."

The young Syrian man claims that he has never felt worried about the police; Because of the extreme caution with which he always behaved, but also because the police do not try to arrest them, “I don’t think they see our movements as a major problem for them.”

Rich people's drugs

The researchers say that after a long search, they found a transport vehicle that serves as a mobile office for two field police officers, and a stone's throw away from them, the important commercial activity of the port is evident, as the port of Goteborg is the largest in the Nordic countries with more than 11,000 sea trips annually.

Göteborg, along with 15 European ports, participated in the establishment of the European Ports Alliance, a new public-private partnership whose main mission is to combat international drug-related crime, the infiltration of migrants and criminals in ports, an alliance supported by the European Union.

Inspector Hanna Johansson says, "It is clear that the port opens up opportunities for smuggling, but it is not the only element in the area that supports gangs."

Johansson mentioned the same drug source that Alex and Qais mentioned, “We are directly opposite the Poles, and our coast is very long,” and pointed out that her country’s accession to the European Union facilitated traffic.”

Field Officer: We can take all the prevention measures we want, arrest dealers and destroy their networks, but as long as the rich continue to buy drugs, the problems will continue

She explains this by saying, “It is true that all immigrants live in the same neighborhoods, and there is unfortunate racial segregation. But when you look at the situation, you find that people in these neighborhoods do not commit crimes. The criminals we are talking about are, in most cases, descendants of second-generation immigrants.” "Or the third. They were born and raised in Sweden, and have Swedish citizenship. The problem comes from somewhere else."

Her colleague Inspector Leo Johansson explains how "street officers" like themselves face the drug problem: "We especially have to deal with cocaine and GHP, which are very expensive, and the majority of their users are upper-class white Swedes. They don't think they are addicted because their use is somewhat ceremonial."

When asked about mafia networks and the means taken to dismantle them, Leo Johansson admitted that field officers like him and his colleague only have access to a very limited amount of information, and he concludes by saying, “We can take all the preventive measures we want, arrest merchants and destroy their networks, but as long as the rich continue to "Buying drugs, the problems will continue."

Source: Mediapart