Migrant mafia gangs are terrorising Sweden’s streets with a surge of bombings and murders, forcing police chiefs in one of Europe’s most liberal countries to admit they are losing their grip on law and order.
Just five years after the country welcomed refugees with open arms, criminal clans from the Middle East, north Africa and the Balkans are behind soaring crime rates in their once peaceful cities, police say, with 257 bombings and more than 300 shootings last year.
In one extraordinary incident in August, Gothenburg’s most notorious crime family, the Ali Khan gang, set up roadblocks in the northeast of the city, shining torches into cars to hunt for members of a rival mob.
Police broke up the checkpoints and made 20 arrests. But in a move that was seen as symbolic of Sweden’s ‘soft touch’, the suspects were released because prosecutors decided they hadn’t broken the law.
In an exclusive interview, Erik Nord, Gothenburg’s chief of police, told MailOnline: ‘These criminal clans have a completely different culture that makes them very difficult to tackle with normal police methods.