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Several cities in western Sweden have been hit by shootings in recent months, and in several cases, according to police, there are links to criminal gangs and drug trafficking.
Peter Sörstedt, Regional Police in Borås, it describes an escalation during the fall that began as early as this summer, based on a multi-year conflict between criminal groups linked to the Hässleholmen and Norrby areas, respectively.
He mentions two cases, one involving Norrby, where several people in July shot in the middle of the day. The case has been in the district court where the people were acquitted, but the verdict has been appealed.
Shortly afterwards, there was a shooting in the other direction, in Hässleholmen, and in that case, charges were brought against three people on Thursday.
– The two cases in which we had many detainees and many wanted made us have a very quiet summer in these parts. But after the district court ruling, we see that when these people were not detained or searched, something happened in the environment and we have also seen a development of violence in those parts since then, says Peter Sörstedt.
An explanation of the shootings In the small towns around Gothenburg, organized crime in the metropolitan area is diversifying, says Peter Sörstedt.
He says that very few acts of violence have no connection with organized crime or criminal networks.
In a city like Borås, it is possible to draw the lines a bit everywhere in the criminal sphere.
– Sometimes they are independent events that happen at the same time in which you think that everything is connected. But you don’t have to do that. But it is clear that in a city like Borås, it is possible to draw the lines a bit everywhere in the criminal sphere.
– If you look at criminal networks in big cities, there are very clear branches in smaller cities, where our networks are connected to other networks, where they help each other. So they may have a loose composition, but it is clear that it spills over from the metropolitan regions. I absolutely believe it.
Police block the scene after a child was shot outside Frufällan in Borås in early October.
Photo: Lars Näslund
Lars Eckerdal, Regional Police Chief at Fyrbodal, do the same assessment.
– If you are successful in fighting criminal networks in one place, the networks move to smaller areas. And criminal activity can be less far-reaching but have the same impact on the local community. We have places where there are many individuals who sow great insecurity and fear among the local population, he says.
Criminal activity can be less far-reaching but have the same impact on the local community.
In Borås, as well as in Fyrbodal and Falkenberg, the police point out the connection between drug trafficking and the rise in gang crime. Peter Sörstedt emphasizes that a normalization of drug use in society is driving the spiral of violence.
– Drug management is an important breeding ground for all forms of crime and, above all, cybercrime. And while the standardization and use is great, there will be circles that want to supply this market. There is a lot of money to be made and then the competition for market shares increases, and then there is also an escalation of violence everywhere.
Also Christer Bartholdsson, regional police chief in Falkenberg, he testifies that the use of drugs, mainly cannabis and cocaine, is widespread.
– It’s not like when I started as a policeman almost 30 years ago when you saw who were drug addicts. It’s incredibly common with the public, he says.
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