14 thousand people are active members of Swedish criminal networks, another 48 thousand people are considered connected to these networks, the head of the Swedish national police, Petra Lund, told journalists, writes the Expressen newspaper on February 23.
Thus, according to law enforcement estimates, 62,000 people are associated with gang crime in Sweden. It is indicated that the total number of criminals and people associated with them may be even higher.
“This is the tip of the iceberg. The numbers are more likely to be low than high.”Lund said.
The police divided 14 thousand active criminals into different groups. 2 thousand people are evaluated in strategic roles. These people control the gangs.
Another 5.2 thousand people are described as high-level artists. Most of them are young, but there are older ones who occupy leadership positions.
“They can be compared to facility managers. “They carry out criminal missions, but, above all, they recruit people from the lowest levels.””Lund explained.
5.5 thousand people are considered to belong to the lower stratum and are people who are mainly engaged in criminal activities. 680 people are identified as “accomplices”: they may, for example, launder money or be accountants. According to a police investigation for the years 2021-2023, 88% of criminals are Swedish citizens and 8% of them have dual citizenship.
95% of active criminals are men. According to the police, there are more women in non-active positions. If only 5% of active criminals are women, among the so-called accomplices the proportion of women is already 19%. Lund says there may be reason to take a closer look at the role of women in the future.
“Maybe they went unnoticed before.”Lund noted.
1,700 active criminals are under 18 years of age, and another 3,700 young people of this age are associated with gangs. Lund said the numbers should be interpreted with caution. To increase the probability that the connection is not a casual friendship between innocent people of the same class or area, a connection with at least two active criminals is taken into account.
As the publication notes, the police previously reported that 30 thousand people could be involved in group violence. According to the police, the current study was carried out with “broader point of view”. To estimate the number of criminals, the so-called “cylindrical model” was used, where the actors are divided into different levels, information from encrypted chats and statistical data, in particular from Europol.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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