“Far from everyone wants to be a part of Swedish society,” Lofving said, adding these families had come to Sweden solely for the purpose of committing crime, bringing with them their own parallel systems of government.
Police in Sweden say they’re struggling to control criminal “clans” exercising their own form of justice, amid an escalation of violent crime in what has long been a tranquil and safe country.
With close family loyalties and little regard for the authorities, a few dozen criminal gangs now wield considerable influence over some of Sweden’s disadvantaged neighbourhoods, say experts.
Shootings, bombings and grenade attacks have become regular events in cities and towns across the country. Media outlets report on drug wars, blackmail, and witnesses too fearful of repercussions to testify.
“Have you seen the movie ‘The Godfather’? Then you know what it’s like,” journalist Johanna Backstrom Lerneby, who wrote a book about one of Sweden’s most infamous crime families, told AFP.
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