Norwegian police alerted to Swedish gangs recruiting children ━ The European Conservative

After Denmark raised the alarm about Swedish gang violence, especially involving juvenile criminals, crossing the border, Norway now appears to be increasingly concerned.

Norway, which shares a border of more than 1,600 km with Sweden, has documented criminal networks from its eastern neighbour established in all 12 police districts, with several known drug trafficking gangs already active there. The Norwegian Police’s Organised Crime Unit now fears that other criminal activities, such as money laundering and violence, are imminent, in line with trends seen in Sweden.

For example, three gang members from Sweden have been charged with murder after a house in a residential area of ​​Oslo was blown up last year.

The Norwegian police want to coordinate border patrols with Swedish law enforcement agencies, particularly to combat drug trafficking.

Tomas Staerk, head of investigations at Norway’s Eastern Police District, told Swedish state broadcaster SVT that police are concerned about the use of extreme violence “and that the Swedish gangs will recruit vulnerable young people.”

Concerns about young violent criminals are justified. The number of children under the age of 15 suspected of involvement in murder plots has tripled in the past year, according to the Swedish Public Prosecutor’s Office. Last year, at the end of July, authorities had identified 26 children as suspects in murder cases. This year, during the same period, that number has risen to 93.

According to police, the sharp rise in “child soldiers” can be attributed to recruitment moving from the streets to the internet. With the prevalence of mobile phones in the hands of children, the time between posting a contract killing online and carrying out the crime can be just a matter of hours, prosecutor Lisa Dos Santos told SVT. Young people are increasingly taking on assignments without knowing the client or the target, she said.

Illegal ‘kill lists’ with targets’ names and price tags – of up to one million Swedish kronor (around €87,000) – are advertised on social media and encrypted messaging apps, meaning children can be recruited by criminal gangs without parents knowing.

Dos Santos wants parents to take more responsibility and be aware of what their children are doing on their mobile phones, but she also calls on technology companies to take tougher action against criminal recruitment:

They have enabled countless murders. I would like to see pressure put on these tech giants to stop this from happening on their platforms, when so many lives are at stake.