Criminal gangs from Sweden are making their way into Norway in a bid to recruit minors there, as shown by a growing number of cases. In Norway, minors are handed rather light punishments, if at all, making them ideal tools in the hands of gangs, a Norwegian news portal reveals.

Easy prey and unpunishable – minors are the perfect targets for criminal gangs, frequently with a migrant background, active in Sweden, recent press reports reveal.

Swedish criminal networks have set their sights on Norway, a country with naive politicians and a weak and understaffed police force, offering them plenty of opportunities. In the practice of Norwegian legal and criminal justice system, juvenile offenders can engage in criminal activities with a rather high level of impunity and can „even get a pizza or two from the authorities,”

the Norwegian news portal Document writes.

The police are aware that Swedish criminals have made contact with underage boys to get them to carry out various types of crimes for them, including selling drug, Thor Magne Loge, head of operations at the south-western police district’s joint intelligence and investigation unit, told Norwegian public media NRK.

Several criminals with connections to Malmo have tried to gain a foothold in the Stavanger region, the intelligence chief says, but adding that thanks active police efforts, the expansion of Swedish criminal networks into Norway has been prevented so far.

As V4NA highlighted in an earlier article, Denmark has introduced border controls vis-a-vis Sweden due to the threat posed by terrorists and criminals, and criminal gangs from Sweden started to relocate to Norway.

Recently, the Norwegian police sounded the alarm that the Swedish criminal organisation Foxtrot, along with its leader ‘the Kurdish Fox’ have made their way into the Norwegian underworld.

Police have found that Norwegian criminals hire gang members from Sweden to carry out violent acts and missions. According to police suspicions, Foxtrot likely wants to establish itself in the Norwegian illicit drug market.