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

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.