Sweden's struggle to contain violent criminal organisations (Image: Getty)
Sweden has been branded a "gangland paradise" as the Scandinavian country struggles to get to grip on a rising violent crime wave.
For several years, Sweden has been dealing with a violent gang war involving the use of weapons and explosive devices by criminal organisations battling for control of arms and drug trafficking.
The country's national police chief stated this week that the gang conflicts have brought an "unprecedented" surge of violence to Sweden, following a weekmarred by multiple shootings - a number of which were fatal.
Editor of the Spectator Magazine, Frazer Nelson whose wife is Swedish wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "Another child shot dead in Sweden last night: this is the 6th fatal shooting in eight days.
"Its gangland warfare - and the use of 'child soldiers' as young as ten years old being recruited - is without parallel in Europe."
Police commandos enter a building at the scene of a reported shooting at a school in Malmoe, Sweden Sweden’s police are losing control of some the country’s towns and cities Credit: JOHAN NILSSON/AFP
When my wife first moved over from Stockholm, she took a while to adjust to the crime. Yellow police signs appealing for witnesses after a stabbing would terrify her. She’d tool up when venturing out of an evening, as if readying for battle. How times have changed. In London, a city with about the same population as Sweden, no one was shot dead in the six months leading up to spring last year. In the next six months, four were shot dead in Södertälje, a city half an hour’s drive south-west of Stockholm.
Since then, things have become far worse. A gangland war erupted on Christmas Day and warring factions have been rampaging around the city in a manner resonant more of 1930s Chicago than contemporary Scandinavia. Gangsters use bombs to send each other warnings; assassins to shoot one another dead. There were 61 fatal firearms attacks last year, six times more than the combined total for Denmark, Finland and Norway. Children young enough to be immune from prosecution under Swedish law are, increasingly, sent to carry out the attacks.
For those of us who zoom in and out of Sweden’s national debate, the most striking aspect is the language. Events that ought to scandalise an entire country are now being reported as part of everyday life. “For me, it has become normal,” said an eyewitness quoted in a report after last weekend’s murder of a 15-year-old in a shopping centre in Skogås, a suburb of Stockholm. “It’s the third or fourth time it’s happened and took place close to the shopping centre, so it wasn’t that shocking.”
Sweden gave the world Scandi-noir fiction. Now true crime is taking over – with podcasts, books and reports into a nationwide murder mystery that has the nation stumped. Why Sweden? Why so bad? Why children? Why is it getting worse? Yes, the 2015 asylum wave saw Sweden import all kinds of criminality among the record numbers of people it took in. But Germany took in even more and doesn’t have such problems. Sweden’s police has seen its budget rise by 75 per cent in recent years but is still losing. Worse, they’re not sure how to win.
Max Åkerwall, a Stockholm police chief, spoke about it earlier this week. Locking up a gang leader, he said, creates a vacuum which leads to a violent power struggle among rival factions (police have counted 52 gangs). Hence more bombs, guns and murders. So it’s not a matter of a few Mr Bigs. It’s the emergence of a whole subculture of violence, unwittingly incubated by Sweden’s liberal immigration and criminal justice system.
“We now have parallel societies in Sweden,” said Magdalena Andersson before she lost power as prime minister last year. “We live in the same country, but in completely different realities.” The phrase “no-go” area is deeply controversial in Sweden but certainly applies to neighbourhoods where authorities – even ambulance workers – cannot go for fear of attack.
Sweden has long seen itself as a “humanitarian superpower” and its generosity with migrants once saw it take in my wife’s parents, who fled the Soviets after the 1968 Prague Spring. My Stockholm-born spouse was taught a “home language” – Czech – even though Sweden was her home. This nods to the other problem: Sweden’s generosity to accommodate asylum seekers is rivalled only by the problems it has always had with integrating them into society.
Perhaps the best measure of integration is the difference in unemployment rates between non-natives and locals. In Britain, it’s negligible but Sweden has the worst gap in the developed world (15 vs 4 per cent). If you allow people smugglers to pour tens of thousands of usually male asylum seekers into a system unable to absorb them, you fill up edge-of-town estates where organised crime is the big business.
Police in Germany and Britain are more used to dealing with imported bad guys – jihadis and other assorted terrorists – and our laws are harsher. Sweden’s courts have always been keener on the wellbeing of offenders, especially the young. A few years ago, a law was passed declaring that arrest, detention or imprisonment of anyone under 18 should only take place “as a last resort”. This delighted the gangsters, who quickly took it as a licence to use children as their foot soldiers.
Police say that children account for most of those arrested for gang-related violence, with about 1,200 of these so-called “child soldiers” now at large. In England, the age of criminal responsibility is 10. In Sweden, it’s 15: no one under that age can be sentenced to any punishment. Half of those arrested in raids after Stockholm’s post-Christmas murders are school-aged. Their trademark weapon is the thermos bomb: homemade and carried in flasks which, in a child’s hand, don’t look suspicious.
The emergence of “child soldiers” makes reading Sweden’s newspapers all the more surreal. “More than 25 shots were fired at the apartment building,” ran a report in Aftonbladet last week. “Police are working on the theory that the perpetrators shot at the wrong door. Another 15-year-old has been detained.”
And this, from a few days earlier: “A 13-year-old and a 14-year-old were stopped at the last moment from committing a crime with automatic weapons in Hammarbyhöjden, in southern Stockholm.”
Sweden was late to allow police to bug mobile phones, late to subject 19-year-old murderers to life sentences. Lise Tamm, a former chief prosecutor, complained about the “naivety” of the system as a whole. Thousands of decent people, she said, are being left in the lurch “as we protect the integrity of criminals and ignore the victims”.
You can see her frustration. There are plenty of calls for laws to change – but must a whole country abandon its liberal values to adjust for a new criminal minority? Then again, Sweden is running out of options. Overall, its crime rate is still about the European average but for this specific sort of crime – the exploitation of children, thermos bombs and gangland shootings – it has somehow become one of the worst in the developed world.
So the compassion for which Sweden is famous – which so many members of my own extended family owe so much – has started to incubate the worst kind of criminality. My hunch is that this amazing country will, in the end, find a way out of this. But in the meantime, it is offering the world a case study in what not to do.
How Sweden became a gangsters' paradise: Europe's most liberal country welcomed Middle Eastern refugees five years ago... but now it is being terrorised by migrant mafia clans - with police and politically correct government powerless
Sweden's police chiefs have warned they are unable to contain the country's rising tide of mafia 'clan' crime
For decades, politicians have refused to admit the crime and violence is coming from migrant communities
Now the problem is so severe that law enforcement officials are speaking out - and blaming mass immigration
There were 257 bombings in Sweden last year and hundreds of shootings. Just one month in the last three years has passed without a gang-related killing
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 to find rival gang members
Erik Nord, Gothenburg's chief of police, told MailOnline: 'We need more police to deal with this situation urgently. Otherwise we will turn into a gangsters' paradise'
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.
'We need more police and our courts and prisons need to be reinforced to deal with this situation urgently. Otherwise we will turn into a gangsters' paradise.'
Swedish police chiefs say they can't contain the country's rising tide of mafia crime. They blame rising violence on mass immigration in 2015 when Sweden welcomed migrants with open arms. None of those pictured are involved in crime gangs
Sweden's approach to immigration has divided opinion in the country. Some left-wing observers welcomed the influx of migrants from the Middle East and north Africa where as those in charge of law and order are starting to blame the country's open door policy from 2015 on the problem they face with up to 40 established migrant crime families they face today
Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, has consistently refused to blame migrants for the increasing violence. But as the situation spirals out of control, police officers are breaking their silence. None of the migrants above are involved in crime gangs
The country's Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, has consistently refused to admit that migrants are behind the increasing violence. But as the situation spirals out of control, police officers are breaking their silence.
'Two years ago, if people linked immigration to crime as I am now, they would be accused of being racist,' Mr Nord said. 'But the paradigm is shifting.'
Last month, the country's deputy chief of police, Mats Löftving, identified 40 mafia clans who had come to Sweden 'solely for the purpose of organising and systemising crime'.
Gothenburg's chief of police Erik Nord blames the violence on migrant gangs who, he said, were attracted to Sweden by its generous welfare system
His comments came after the roadblock incident, which was part of a feud sparked when members of a group called the Backa Gang shot at a member of the notorious Ali Khan group.
The Ali Khan family has been dubbed a mafia organisation by Swedish police and media alike, though its members insist that the convictions of some do not represent the whole.
Members of the family have been reported to the authorities more than 200 times in the last two years, but in many of the cases the informants mysteriously withdraw their complaints.
In sworn testimony given at court, the local police chief Ulf Merlander said: '[The Ali Khans] have been part of a lot of criminal activities over the years. They've affected the local community pretty negatively for a long time.
'When I look at this family, roughly 60 out of the 120 individuals are over the age of 15. About 40 of them are male, and over 30 have criminal records.'
He added: 'The types of crime that the Ali Khans are known for are murder, extortion, serious violations of a woman's integrity, physical abuse, unlawful threats, drug crimes and unlawful possession of weapons.'
According to police sources, the Backa Gang thug did not know that he was shooting at an Ali Khan member. In the tit-for-tat battle that followed, a Backa hoodlum was gunned down in a drive-by shooting.
Poised for further escalation, the Ali Khans set up the checkpoints to defend themselves, stopping all cars entering their patch to check for rival mobsters.
The Ali Khan network, described by Swedish police officers and media as one of the country's most feared and violent gangs, is typical of mafia rings all over the country. Part of a larger clan that is made up of seven related families, it has branches in Denmark, Germany and Lebanon. The Ali Khans are seen as the clan's enforcers.
Hashem Ali Khan, 63, is believed to be the head of the family. He arrived in Sweden with a bullet in his back in 1984 as a refugee from Lebanon's civil war, and set up home in a quiet suburban cul-de-sac in Angered, northeast Gothenburg, in what would become the heart of his family's territory.
In this middle class, semi-detached modern home, the frail pensioner with a large white beard receives regular visits from senior relatives. He officiates every Friday at the nearby al Salam mosque, which offers courses in martial arts as well as prayer and study sessions.
Imam Hashem Ali Khan, who came to Sweden in 1984 from Lebanon, is believed to be head of the notorious Ali Khan crime family, although he has no criminal convictions
Ali Khan's grandson Osman (left) , 20, who has convictions for drugs offences and assault, was involved in a fight that sparked a feud with the rival Backa Gang. Another of his 29 grandchildren Khalil Ali Khan (right) has a drugs offence conviction
Ali Khan's son-in-law Fadi Ali Khan (above), 44, who divorced the imam's daughter in 2004 after fathering her children, served one year in prison in 2017 for obstruction of justice
The location of the notorious Ali Khan , roadblocks in Angered, northeastern Gothenburg, which sparked outrage. Police arrested 20 gang members but later released them all as they could not decide if they had committed any crime.
Hashem Ali Khan's modest, middle-class home in Angered, a northeastern suburb of Gothenburg, where he meets senior members of his family
Abu Saleh speaks to clan members at a rallyAlthough the pensioner was arrested twice in 2019 – once in connection with a machine gun found in a search – he has never been convicted of a crime. He avoided gun charges last year when his underage teenage grandson arrived at the police station claiming that the illegal weapon belonged to him.
But five of his seven children and three of their spouses have been convicted of criminal offences, including murder, drugs crimes, threatening police, serious assault and obstruction of justice.
His middle son Ibrahim, 38, was caught smuggling teargas and bladed knuckle-dusters into the city last year, and his younger son Abdelbaset, 33, shot dead an 18-year-old Chilean in a revenge attack.
Nine of the imam's 34 grandchildren have also been found guilty of crimes. Khalil, 28, for instance, has committed assault, attempted robbery, obstruction of justice, theft and drug offences, while his brother Hashem, 22, has served two prison sentences for drug crimes, serious assault and obstruction of justice.
The Ali Khans and roadblocks in Gothenburg are just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to the 40 clans there are hundreds of smaller gangs, and conflicts between rivals mean that only one month of the last three years has passed without a mob-related killing in Sweden. There are now 10 times as many killings as there are in Germany.
This summer, a 12-year-old girl was shot dead by a stray bullet near Stockholm, while in Gothenburg a teacher was kidnapped and beaten after he reported two armed men outside his school. An eight-year old British boy was killed in a grenade attack in the same city while visiting family in 2016.
Last month, foreign exchange students at Dalarna University in Borlänge, central Sweden, pleaded to be moved from their digs in an immigrant-dominated neighbourhood after a spate of shootings, robberies, stabbings, rapes and school arson attacks.
They had been housed in the Tjärna Ängar area, which has soaring rates of violent crime and is home to high numbers of migrants from troubled countries like Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Migrants were evicted by police in Malmo after a standoff lasting many months that threatened to overwhelm social services
About 200 migrants who had set up a makeshift camp back in 2015 in Malmo, Sweden, were evicted and moved on by police
In a letter to university leaders sent on behalf of the international student union, Indian student Mufassireen Ahmed wrote: 'Students are disturbed with the thought that they are experiencing the glimpse of war countries at their accommodation, which has led to widespread depression.'
Her friends had been repeatedly robbed and one had been stabbed after refusing to allow unknown men access to university property, she wrote.
Several had seen knife attacks and heard gun shots while in their rooms studying, causing some to abandon their studies and leave Sweden.
Indian student Mufassireen Ahmed (above) wrote to Dalarna University in Borlänge, central Sweden, telling them that international students are frightened to stay in the country
'The general opinion within students is that they do not feel like they are living in Sweden, they do not hear the language or get to experience the culture and traditions, [and they] feel like they are living in a segregated neighbourhood,' she wrote.
There has also been a spate of 'humiliation robberies', in which young victims are mugged, degraded and raped, mainly by migrant youths.
Traditional crime rings such as the Hell’s Angels, which controlled organised crime in the country for decades, are running scared.
Sweden, long seen as the most open in the world, began opening its doors to asylum seekers in the Eighties and took in one of the highest numbers in Europe during the migration surge of 2015.
The Ali Khans and other established clans arrived in Sweden in the first wave of mass migration, 30 years ago. The family originated in Palestine and Mardin, in southeast Turkey, but spread to Lebanon in the last century and from there to northern Europe.
More recent arrivals are adapting to the gang culture. Syrian-born Ouday Alwaked, for example, joined the Ali Khan family as a foot-soldier. According to a police source, he served Fadi Ali Khan loyally until he was sent to prison for two years after stabbing a rival in the neck in a targeted attack.
Police intelligence chiefs have told MailOnline of their concerns that Syrians and other new migrants are starting to form their own crime rings that will one day challenge the likes of the Ali Khans.
According to Mr Nord, these crime rings are drawn to the country by state handouts. 'Why have they based themselves in Sweden? It's obvious,' he said.
'Our generous welfare system and trusting society can be exploited by the criminal networks. Half of the disabled benefit we pay out is fraudulently taken by the gangs. Sometimes they get divorced so that the Government will give them another flat, then move back in with their ex-wives and rent it out.
Migrant communities have developed in Sweden's suburbs that have very little contact with mainstream society
For decades, Swedish politicians refused to link rising crime rates to immigration but now police officers are speaking out
The migrant surge five years ago allowed criminal elements to enter the country alongside legitimate refugees
‘When the clan system found in the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans was transferred into Sweden, with our high level of social trust, it mutated into organised crime.
‘We see the migrants leaving the country for a few months, then coming back in a wheelchair to claim disability benefit. This is the beginning of the exploitation.
Syrian-born Ouday Alwaked, 25, served Fadi Ali Khan as a foot-soldier and served two years in prison for attempted murder after stabbing a rival in the neck in a targeted attack
'It is terrible because police resources are being used to address the problem that we have created ourselves.'
Inspector Ulf Böstrom, head of Gothenburg's integration unit, who has been a police officer for 42 years, told MailOnline that the withdrawal of community police patrols in the Eighties created a vacuum that was filled with migrant gangs.
'When the cat is gone, the rats dance on the table,' he said. 'In Sweden, the cat has been gone for 30 years. With no police on the beat, there was no way of showing our legal boundaries to new arrivals.
'The clans have a code of silence. They don't trust Sweden's authorities and they won't speak to us. We have 184 nationalities in Gothenburg alone. The clans view white Swedes as just another clan that happens to be in control of the country's institutions.
'We had a plan for integration that obviously failed. Fixing it will be very difficult. A generation of young men has been born into crime families on Swedish soil, and they see themselves as untouchable.'
The veteran police officer added: 'It is our own fault but the politicians won't admit it. We can't solve it with surveillance or military-style policing. If police are not patrolling the streets, how can we integrate these parallel societies?'
Johanna Bäckström Lerneby, author of The Family, a book about the Ali Khans, said: 'Normal Swedes trust the State to look after them and keep them safe. But the clans trust only their families.
'For them, family is more important than life and death. The State is not important. They don't speak to police. They are living in a different world.'
So powerful have the crime rings become, she added, that they even have lawyers in their pockets.
Earlier this year, solicitor Edip Samuelsson was penalised after he was found to be helping two gang members coordinate their stories while in custody facing drug charges.
Unlike other gangs, the clans are bonded by blood and run on a strict family hierarchy. The war with the Backa Gang ended when older members of the Ali Khan group set up a peace summit in the five-star Clarion Post hotel in central Gothenburg, less than 500 yards away from the city's main police station.
Police chiefs have admitted that they are at a loss as to how to deal with the problem of rising crime among migrants. None of the civilians pictured about are involved in gang crime
The Backa Gang agreed to pay substantial reparations to avoid further violence, police sources have claimed.
The only significant action taken by the Swedish authorities was to take one of Khan's teenage grandsons, who was present at the brazen summit, into care.
'You might think it was good for the two sides to make peace, but it just made police more worried,' Inspector Böstrom said. 'It means that they are now working together under the radar and it is impossible to know what they are doing.'
Swedish police chiefs say they can't contain the country's rising tide of mafia crime. They blame rising violence on mass immigration in 2015 when Sweden welcomed migrants with open arms. None of those pictured are involved in crime gangs 
Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, has consistently refused to blame migrants for the increasing violence. But as the situation spirals out of control, police officers are breaking their silence. None of the migrants above are involved in crime gangs
Ali Khan's son-in-law Fadi Ali Khan (above), 44, who divorced the imam's daughter in 2004 after fathering her children, served one year in prison in 2017 for obstruction of justice
Migrant communities have developed in Sweden's suburbs that have very little contact with mainstream society
