2023-08-31 21:28:26
The series of explosions in Sweden does not stop. Most recently, the police in Gothenburg reported two explosions around 1 a.m. on Thursday, an hour later an explosion was reported in the Stockholm suburb of Norsborg and in the city of Nyköping, about 100 kilometers south of the capital. According to police, no one was injured.
“Both crime scenes have been cordoned off and technical investigations are ongoing,” the Gothenburg police said. Experts for the bomb disposal are in use. According to the authorities, all four explosions occurred in residential areas. The damage could not be quantified by the police on Thursday.
APA/AFP/Tt News Agency/Adam Ihse A destroyed front door after an explosion in Gothenburg
In recent days, there have been several incidents in Sweden that have been linked to gang violence. A young man was shot dead in his car in Helsingborg, and a teenage boy was later arrested on suspicion of murder. Earlier, two 14-year-old boys were found dead in a wooded area after allegedly getting into trouble with criminal networks.
Record number of teenagers involved in crime
Sweden has been struggling with serious gang crime for several years, which repeatedly manifests itself in shots and deliberate explosions. Last year, the Swedish police counted 391 shootings in the country, 62 of which ended fatally. So far this year alone there have been more than 100 explosions in Sweden. According to the police, the bombs and hand grenades are primarily intended for intimidation.
Again and again, teenagers and young men are among the victims and perpetrators. The number of 15- to 17-year-olds being prosecuted for serious crimes, including murder and attempted murder, has risen to its highest level since 2019, the Guardian reports. In the first six months of this year there were 42 people in this age group who were suspected of attempted murder. In 2022 there were still 38.
Relatively easy access to firearms
One problem is the relatively easy access to firearms, which according to the police mainly come from the Balkans. As younger children as young as 10 are increasingly being recruited into drug trafficking, the number of those who use weapons in conflicts with deadly consequences is also increasing. The police fear that it is only a matter of time before arms from Ukraine find their way to Sweden.
For example, in the small Swedish town of Örebro, firearms are so easy to obtain that most of the young people with whom social services work in connection with juvenile delinquency can obtain a gun within a day. “The contacts are there when you want them. They could get drugs even quicker,” the Guardian quoted Sabrina Farlblad from the city’s social services department as saying.
APA/AFP/Jonathan Nackstrand Photos of firearms seized at a police station in Rinkeby
Tightening for drug buyers demanded
The past shootings in front of schools and playgrounds in Örebro were mainly about drugs and power struggles, the “Guardian” quotes the lawyer and expert on juvenile crime Evin Cetin. The government must ask itself: “Can we fight the gang crime that recruits child soldiers without fighting the multi-billion dollar drug business?”
Unlike in most parts of Europe, where drug distribution is largely driven by older men, in Sweden 16 and 17-year-olds would now buy half a kilogram of cocaine on loan and get younger children to sell it. “That’s the reason for these shootings,” she said.
Instead of focusing on punishing children who sell drugs, there should be more focus on those who buy them from young people, Cetin said. Former Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson recently called for tougher penalties for those who buy drugs from children.
Expert: Early warnings ignored
Cetin blames recent governments and police for failing to heed a 2010 warning from then juvenile crime expert Carin Götblad. The current chief of police warned even then that 5,000 children and young people were on the way to serious crime. According to Cetin, these children are now leading figures in gang crime.
Every time a child or young person leaves crime through death or imprisonment, someone else is recruited. “And that’s the big problem. You can lock up as many as you can, but new children keep coming.” Rising social and economic inequality is a motivating factor for children to start dealing drugs. This is especially true for boys who fail in school and for areas with high unemployment.
Swedish government announces measures
The Swedish government recently announced measures to make it easier for schools, social services and the police to exchange information. This is to ensure that children who are at risk can be identified at an early stage. Projects such as self-help groups and a group violence intervention are also designed to help identify those involved in or associated with violent crime.
A government report released in August, with Police Commissioner Götblad contributing as an expert, suggests that youths aged 15 to 17 who commit the most serious crimes should be jailed. “We need a lot more corrective tools because we have a naive society today,” says Götblad. “The society for which our laws were made and the authorities no longer exist.”
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