Police are warning of out of control gangs in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Police are warning of out of control gangs in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Police are warning of out of control gangs in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Police are warning of out of control gangs in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Police chief warns migrant mafia gangs are turning Sweden into ‘gangster’s paradise’


Nicky Harley
  • English
  • Arabic

Swedish police chiefs are pleading for more resources as migrant mafia gangs terrorise the country.

Last year Sweden's national bomb squad was called out to more than 250 blasts, a level not seen anywhere else in Europe.

The situation came to head last November when a 15-year-old was killed, leading to the creation of Operation Hoarfrost to tackle the rise in gang crime.

Now, almost a year on, Gothenburg's chief of police Erik Nord is warning the situation is continuing to spiral out of control.

"These criminal clans have a completely different culture that makes them very difficult to tackle with normal police methods," he told Mailonline.

"We need more police and our courts and prisons need to be reinforced to deal with this situation urgently. Otherwise we will turn into a gangster’s paradise."

In August, more than 20 people were arrested when police were called to an incident in Gothenburg which saw one crime family close roads and shine torches into cars, as they attempted to track down their rivals.

Mr Nord believes migrant gangs are behind the incidents.

"Two years ago, if people linked immigration to crime as I am now, they would be accused of being racist," he added.

"But the paradigm is shifting."

Earlier this year, the country's deputy police chief, Mats Löftving, said at least 40 migrant gangs had been identified.

Police have received more than 200 complaints about one gang, the Ali Khan group, but usually they are retracted and no action can be taken.

The Ali Khan group originated from Palestine and Mardin, in southeast Turkey, but spread to Lebanon and from there to northern Europe.

Police fear new gangs of Syrian migrants are forming and are concerned Sweden is becoming a hub for mafia groups due to the country's generous welfare system.

"Our generous welfare system and trusting society can be exploited by the criminal networks," Mr Nord added.

"Half of the disability benefit we pay out is fraudulently taken by the gangs. Sometimes they get divorced so that the Government will give them another flat, then move back in with their ex-wives and rent it out."

Inspector Ulf Böstrom, head of Gothenburg's integration unit, said a solution is difficult to find.

"We had a plan for integration that obviously failed," he told Mailonline.

"Fixing it will be very difficult. A generation of young men has been born into crime families on Swedish soil, and they see themselves as untouchable.

"It is our own fault but the politicians won't admit it."

The ruling coalition government of the Social Democrats and Greens has increased sentences for gun crimes and promised extra resources for the police in a bid to tackle the crisis.

Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?

The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.

Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.

“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.

The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.

The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.

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