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The deputy chief of the National Police, Mats Löfving, stopped the radio and warned of 40 clans that came to Sweden to commit crimes.
But among the better-known police officers in the affected cities, the picture is more fragmented.
– We have people who commit crimes and, in some cases, belong to the same family, says Gunnar Appelgren, commissioner of crimes and expert in gangs of the Stockholm police.
Mats Löfving said in Ekot’s interview on Saturday that there are some 40 clans that have come to Sweden “solely for the purpose of organizing and systematizing crime.”
He also said that there are examples of clans entering political life to influence the government “even in Sweden.”
Later, the head of the intelligence department of the national police operational department, Linda H Staaf, tried to explain what she meant:
– It is about criminal organizations acquiring facilitators in local politics and business, he said.
Photo: TT
The deputy chief of the National Police, Mats Löfving.
The cities described as most corrupted by criminal clan structures are Gothenburg and Södertälje.
“It doesn’t give much”
In Gothenburg, the head of the Greater Gothenburg police area, Erik Nord, says that the criminal intelligence service has identified 12 family-based family networks in the western police region and of these there are seven in Greater Gothenburg.
– But it is important to remember that we have many more that are not family criminal networks in the western region. And just because you carry that last name does not mean that you are a criminal. On the other hand, there is a crime that is linked to families and these family networks usually have some connection to the Middle East, says Erik Nord.
In Södertälje, Crime Commissioner Gunnar Appelgren leads the “Tore 3” initiative against organized crime in the city. He has worked against gang crime for decades and is opposed to the whole concept of clan.
– The problem when talking about clans is that we don’t even have a clear idea of what it means. What we have in Södertälje is that we have people who commit crimes and in some cases belong to the same family. Trying to put criminals into clans does not give us much more value to the matter because the methodology remains the same, says Gunnar Appelgren.
Photo: TT
In Södertälje, Crime Commissioner Gunnar Appelgren leads the “Tore 3” initiative against organized crime in the city.
Growing up together
He says that the common denominator of organized crime in Södertälje is often that the people in the various networks grew up together.
– There are no criminal networks based exclusively on the family, but there are different people. The strongest factor is above all that young people, and slightly older people, who commit crimes have lived together and grew up in the same area. That is what creates cohesion. If it is the same family or ethnic group that lives in an area, naturally it will be the same family that chooses a criminal life, says Gunnar Appelgren.
During a conflict between the Ali Khan family network and the Backagänget group, criminals set up barricades in a Gothenburg suburb in late August. According to Erik Nord, the conflict has subsided and police have received no reports of new roadblocks in Gothenburg.
Photo: KRISTER HANSSON
Police have increased their presence in the Gothenburg suburb of Hjällbo since criminal gangs established roadblocks.
Research political influence
Gunnar Appelgren says that the police have not seen any examples of physical barricades in Södertälje. But he claims that there are “hidden obstacles” that serve the same function.
– Even if you don’t have barricades, you are extremely vigilant in our suburbs and districts. You usually have young guys as a lookout point and if someone enters the area that you don’t recognize, you go ahead and check who it is and look at the phone to see who you are talking to and thus see that you are not a police officer. It’s about controlling the area, says Gunnar Appelgren.
He says that suspicions of infiltration are being investigated to influence the political decisions of the municipality.
– Yes, we see it. As early as 2010-2011, we began to claim that we have information that people are involved in decision-making, either at the official level or that they are trying to gain political influence.
He mentions as an example that it has happened in the Stockholm area that annual meetings have been cut so that people from a certain network occupy different positions during an annual meeting.
– I do not want to go into so many details because they are things that we have not yet been able to demonstrate in the preliminary investigation. It is an intelligence hypothesis that we have that one tries to influence different forms of decision-making based on criminal self-interest in various ways. What is crime and politics here is a floating border. But if we find something that is obviously criminal, we will investigate it, says Gunnar Appelgren.
In Gothenburg, Police Chief Erik Nord says there is unconfirmed information indicating that political processes may have been influenced by family networks.
– But I have no proof of that, it is intelligence information, he says.
Photo: Krister Hansson
Erik Nord, Chief of Police for the Greater Gothenburg Police Zone.
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