(CN) — Armed with a new method to map the scale of gang-related organized crime in Sweden, police found at least 62,000 people connected to criminal networks — more than double previous estimates, according to a report released Friday in the Nordic country.
“We see that the criminal networks are very extensive, which confirms the image we have that this is a widespread and very serious social problem,” National Police Commissioner Petra Lundh said in a news briefing.
Swedish police had earlier cited a figure of around 30,000 people linked to gang-related violence. While the new numbers indicate the scale of organized gang crime in the country, Lundh said that they were conservative.
“This is the tip of an iceberg. The figures are rather on the low side than on the high side,” she said.
Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer said that Sweden is in an “extraordinary situation.”
“We are talking about system-threatening crime with a large capital of violence that silences witnesses, threatens social workers, infiltrates authorities and political parties, that handles drugs, deceives the elderly and our welfare systems,” he said.
According to numbers collected by The Guardian, Sweden had the second-highest per capita gun crime death rate in Europe in 2021, topped only by Albania.
Lundh emphasized the novel method to understand criminal networks: Instead of only focusing on gang members directly involved in crimes, police broadened their scope to include people with links to gang organizations.
There are about 14,000 declared active gang members — with 2,000 of them categorized as “strategic actors,” or leaders — who average 28 years old.
The other 48,000 are linked to these gang members. Sweden has a population of around 10.5 million.
The number includes suspects in crimes committed by active gang members in the last two years, and anyone connected to at least two active gang members — with the report showing an average of six connections per person. People who help store drugs at home or handle money for gang criminals get counted, too.
One of the most worrying trends is children and teenagers becoming especially vulnerable to gang recruitment.
Swedish police concluded that “older individuals rule over younger ones in the criminal networks.” The report showed that about 5,400 people with gang links are under 18. Swedish criminologist Manne Gerell told Swedish Radio that police are underestimating the true scope of the problem.
Kids under the criminal minimum age are being used as hitmen, police said. Earlier in 2023, police in the capital of Stockholm stopped a 14-year-old with an automatic firearm ready to kill a target.
In 2023, Strömmer advocated lowering the criminal minimum age to between 12 and 15, where it stands now.
Both Strömmer and Lundh said that the nation’s police alone cannot change the status quo. They called for other authorities, municipalities, businesses and civil society to work together.
In a news release, Katharina von Sydow, president of the Swedish Police Association, echoed the need for a combined effort to stop gangs from recruiting children.
“The fact that so many young people are connected to the gangs is very worrying. Children have the right to a safe upbringing, and we as a society must get better at preventing and dealing with what is happening now. More actors need to do more, this is not just a police matter. The whole society must act,” she said.
The Swedish government ordered Friday's report in August 2023.
Follow @LasseSrensen13
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