Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard criticized the gangs yesterday of organized crime, who are recruiting Swedish minors to carry out deadly attacks in Denmark, and said it "reflects a completely sick, perverted culture of violence," the Associated Press reported, cited by BTA.
Hummelgaard said that since April there have been 25 cases of young Swedes being recruited by Danes to commit crimes in Denmark. Hummelgaard made his statement after TV "Ti Vi 2" showed him parts of an encrypted chat in Swedish saying that mercenaries were wanted to shoot at certain people in Denmark. There are also reports of a salary of 300,000 to 500,000 kroner ($28,500 to $47,500).
"It's horrible in every way and it makes me angry. It makes me very, very angry," Hummelgaard said, adding that he would "put pressure on Sweden to take responsibility for this."
The problem of gangs committing crimes in Sweden has existed for years, while in Denmark the police are less likely to register such cases.
Last year, Swedish police reported an increase in the number of teenagers under 18 being recruited to commit crimes because they are not subject to the same laws as adults and are often protected from prosecution.
One of the most notorious criminal gangs in Denmark is "Loyal to the Family", which was banned in 2021. Danish police say she is in conflict with an unnamed gang.
"Their members are probably the ones the police stop and search most often,", a sociologist told Danish television last week after two Swedish teenagers - aged 17 and 16 - were remanded in custody for the shootings.
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"It is profitable for them to be able to use children from Sweden as cannon fodder, unfortunately," he said.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it was a "grim example of cynical criminals recruiting Swedish youths to commit crimes in Denmark. We will not accept this."
Last year, Swedish authorities estimated that 62,000 people in Sweden were connected to criminal gangs. They often recruit their members from immigrant neighborhoods populated by people in a disadvantaged social situation and most crimes are committed in Sweden's three largest cities: Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö.
In 2022, the number of shootings carried out by gang members in Sweden reached 391, with 62 people killed, according to police data. The numbers have since dropped to 164 shootings and 22 murders recorded in the first seven months of 2024.
In Denmark, according to authorities, at the end of last year there were 1,257 people connected to organized crime. The majority of crimes in Denmark are committed in and around Copenhagen.