Sweden and Denmark pledge joint gang crime crackdown

Nordic countries plan to chase criminal masterminds as Swedish gang violence spreads across border

Sweden has been plagued by gangland shootings and killings, with the violence now spreading into Denmark. AP

Nordic justice ministers vowed on Wednesday to tackle a surge in gangland crime spreading from Sweden into Denmark.

The two countries plan to track down criminal masterminds believed to be pulling the strings of underworld violence from abroad.

They also want to “hold accountable” the social media channels on which it is suspected young people are recruited into violence.

Sweden has been plagued by gang violence in cities such as Stockholm and Malmo for several years, with 348 shootings, resulting in 52 deaths, reported last year. Denmark says the disorder has spilt into “several violent episodes” involving Swedish citizens on its territory.

Denmark has discovered 25 cases of gangs hiring criminals from across the border in Sweden, according to Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard, who refers to young recruits as “child soldiers”.

Sweden and Denmark said on Wednesday they plan to speak to third countries, which they did not identify, about going after the “leadership layer” of the gangs.

In May, a counter-intelligence service accused Iran of recruiting Swedish criminal gangs, known as Foxtrot and Rumba, to do their bidding.

Hunt for gang bosses

Gang leaders “sit at convenient addresses and often under sunny conditions, and order the serious crimes”, said Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer.

Mr Hummelgaard added: “Our message is clear: you should not be able to hide. And we will use all the tools we can think of to crack down on your crime. The gangs' readiness for violence knows no bounds. Therefore our response must be strong and co-ordinated.”

Ministers also want to speak to the bosses of social media sites to judge whether they are doing enough to prevent crime, Mr Strommer said.

“If they don't answer satisfactorily, we will have to decide whether we have to do something,” he said.

Denmark has already tightened border checks and sent an officer to work with Swedish police in Stockholm in a crackdown on the violence.

It is investigating whether to use facial recognition technology to find culprits in particularly serious cases such as attempted gangland killings.

Sweden has an estimated 14,000 active gang criminals and an additional 48,000 people loosely affiliated with gangs, a police report said last year.

Mr Hummelgaard last week said Nordic countries were “feeling the consequences of long-standing failed immigration and legal policies in Sweden”.

A Swedish government backed by the far-right Sweden Democrats is meanwhile looking at ways to reduce net migration.

It was advised in a report last week that a scheme to pay immigrants to leave the country could be widened to include foreign-born Swedish citizens.