Three Swedes were arrested in Spain – A huge list of criminal suspects –

Those arrested are suspected of, among other things, serious drug crimes and large-scale planning to smuggle firearms. Illustration image. AOP

Three Swedes have been arrested in Spain on Wednesday as a result of cooperation with European authorities, reports news agency AFP.

According to the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, the arrests are related to a gang war in Denmark. Swedes are suspected of gang crimes, which include recruiting minors to commit crimes. In addition, the detainees are suspected of serious drug crimes and planning large-scale weapons smuggling, which includes dozens of self-loading rifles and pistols.

International cooperation between authorities

The Swedes were arrested in Alicante, Spain. Swedish, Danish and Spanish authorities and the European police organization Europol participated in the operation that led to their capture. In addition, the European Criminal Justice Cooperation Agency Eurojust, which is a cooperation body of the prosecutor’s offices of the EU member states, was also involved in the operation.

According to Sveriges Radio, it is a man, a woman and a teenage boy who are suspected of organizing a large part of the recent acts of violence by young people in Denmark. One of the persons is suspected of murder preparation, aggravated weapons crime, aggravated destruction causing public danger and several attempted murders in Malmö, Stockholm and Copenhagen in the summer of 2024. According to the arrest protocol, the suspect has also incited others to commit acts either “by advice or by action”.

– There have been cases in Copenhagen, Malmö and Kista where young people have been recruited to participate in serious violent acts, the prosecutor Anna Arnell tells Sveriges Radio.

Suspicions also concern gross extortion or attempted extortion. One of the persons is also suspected of aggravated money laundering.

According to Europol, the suspects also maintained a “crime cell” that operated on the Internet and targeted advertisements dealing with contract killings to young people as young as 13-14 years old, AFP reports.