The Swedish police have in several recent cases seized anti-tank weapons from gang members.
According to the newspaper Aftonbladet, at least three such cases have occurred this year.
One of the cases reportedly involves a bloody feud with a rivaling gang, which involves fatal shootings.
One of the cases reportedly involves a bloody feud with a rivaling gang, which involves fatal shootings.
“It is very worrying that anti-tank weapons appear in criminal groups, not least when they are involved in conflicts. I consider the probability that this type of weapon will be used to be very high,” police commissioner and gang expert Gunnar Appelgren told the newspaper.
The newspaper identified one of the weapons, seized from a 28-year-old criminal as made in the former Yugoslavia, from where illegal arms flooded Europe in the aftermath of the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s. The origins of the other seized arms was not specified.
However, Sweden has so far sent at least 10,000 anti-tank weapons to assist Ukraine against Russia's special operation aimed to demilitarize and de-Nazify the country. At that time, Swedish police voiced suspicions that Westerns arms sent to Ukraine may end up in the hands of criminal gangs in Sweden, drawing parallels with the Yugoslav wars.
Previously, Interpol predicted an uptick in illegal arms trafficking following the conflict in Ukraine, stressing that there were similar outcomes in the Balkans and Africa, where lawlessness and an abundance of arms had been abused by organized crime groups.
Already in June, an anti-tank weapon of the type donated to Ukraine was submitted to a second-hand shop in Gothenburg.
Since the start of the Russia's special operation in Ukraine to protect the inhabitants of Donbass, Kiev has enjoyed an endless stream of arms deliveries from across the entire Western world. These lethal contributions have flowed in from Europe and from overseas, ostensibly to protect Ukraine against what is being presented as “Russian invasion”.
Sweden alone effectively abandoned its practice of not sending arms to nations involved in conflicts and contributed several batches of arms and military gear.
Russia has condemned the arms assistance as “pouring oil on the fire”, stressing that the shipments would constitute a “legitimate target” for the Russian forces. Moscow also repeatedly warned of the dangers of such military assistance, stressing that it not only prolongs the conflict, but could even risk a direct confrontation with NATO.