Swedish criminal groups have sent people to Iceland to commit crimes

This is what Minister of Justice Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir says, but she met with Nordic justice ministers in Sweden last Friday. The main issue on the agenda was organized crime in the countries.

TV2 reports Hafsteinsdóttir saying that the use of knives in Iceland is on the rise. She also says that crimes related to criminal activities in Sweden have been committed in this country.

"There are criminal groups in Sweden that have sent people to Iceland to commit crimes," she says.

The policeman's car was burned on Swedish orders

The case that Minister of Justice Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir refers to when she gave an example of Swedish gangs being sent to Iceland to commit crimes refers to when a police officer's car was set on fire outside his home in August last year.

The perpetrators in the case were working on orders from a Swedish gang. At the time, the case was investigated as retaliation against this particular police officer.

We have confirmed information about a group of people who came here for this purpose," says Runólfur Þórhallsson, assistant superintendent at the Police's analytical department.

"We informed the Minister of Justice about this and that the act was ordered by a criminal group in cyberspace. Then people often travel across the border to commit the crime," Þórhallsson says.

It was stated in the case of Peter Hummelgard, the Minister of Justice of Denmark, at the meeting of the Ministers of Justice that criminal gangs sometimes have a way of offering work in cyberspace where criminal groups or individuals know in advance what they will be paid for a specific job. This seems to have been way it was done in this case.

The Kronogård gang

The order came from the Kronogård gang Trollhattan, according to Þórhallsson. The gang is multinational but has been led by Palestinians. "Therefore, it is perhaps unfair to say that this comes from Sweden." This is an activity that consists of different nationalities and is all around us."

Narrowly defined criminal groups

When asked, he says that this gang is just one of the criminal groups that have tried to gain a foothold in this country. “There are 8-12 gangs we put on the label; foreign criminal groups. But at least 15-18 criminal groups are operating in this country," he says.

In this context, Þórhallsson says that it should be taken into account that the National Court has interpreted rather narrowly what constitutes an organized crime group. "Therefore, this is carefully planned," he says.

It has been said that there is a decent agreement between the groups in this country. However, since 2021, people have said in reports from the National Police Commissioner that they fear that a conflict will break out.

Tightened border control

Are there indications that violence is increasing because of this?

"We do not see a strong trend in this direction. But this is something that we need to think carefully about, that this can happen to us. We see this in the countries around us. There are brutal conflicts between criminal groups."

Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir announced tighter measures on the border in RÚV's news Sunday evening. Þórhallsson says that Hafsteinsdóttir has responded well to the police's requests for increased manpower and by tightening the control at the border. However, the police can still improve with more proactive work and better technical knowledge.

Children used for theft in Iceland

It was stated at the ministerial meeting of the Minister of Justice of the Nordic countries last week that children are often used for crimes in the Nordic countries. Þórhallsson also gives an example of this in Iceland. There are not the least examples of children who have refugee status being exploited.

"We are hearing from police officers who are out on the street that there have been group formations around shopping centers. There are children under the age of 18. There are no confirmed cases of serious crimes, but they are being used for stealing things."

He says there are similar examples of this in Sweden and Denmark, but there are examples of much more serious incidents there. People are less likely to see a similar trend here, where children have chosen to “take four years.” It refers to the fact that the maximum sentence for minors is four years in prison, even for very serious crimes.