Sweden: resurgence of violence and tougher legislation

On August 21, in the small town of Fagersta, 13,000 inhabitants, 180 kilometers northwest of Stockholm, a deadly attack took place in a high school, in the middle of the electoral campaign. Dressed in a black cape, masked, helmeted and armed with a sword, an 18-year-old student attacks several of his classmates. A 17-year-old girl died, three other people were injured. The attack was filmed by the suspect, who was arrested by police.

Engaged in the legislative campaign, most parties are canceling their meetings. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Liberal Education Minister Simonna Mohamsson, Social Democratic Party leader Magdalena Andersson and Center Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist are going there to pay their respects.

This is not the first shock endured by Swedish society. On February 4, 2025, the country experienced the worst mass killing in its history: ten people, including several of foreign origin, lost their lives in an adult education center in Orebro.

In the 1970s, crime in Sweden was caused by motorcycle gangs, Hell's Angels or Los Banditos. But from the 2000s, they were supplanted by groups from the suburbs of large Swedish cities: Stockholm, Gothenburg or Malmö. These hyperviolent gangs recruit minors, increasingly young, sometimes as young as 10 years old, who are not incarcerated if they are arrested by the police.

Gang activities are diversifying: drug trafficking – Sweden is becoming the gateway for cocaine to Northern Europe – but also arms and human trafficking. In 2024, these criminal structures will have, according to the police, 14,000 active members, of whom 11% are foreigners and 8% have dual nationality. One in seven is a minor. This activity generates huge sums, between 9 and 14 billion euros.

Symbol of this security change: Uppsala, a city famous for its university founded in 1477 and its castle built by King Gustav Vasa in 1547. This city, located 60 kilometers north of the capital, has everything of a haven of peace. However, it is the cradle of two of the most violent and dangerous drug trafficking gangs in the country: the "Foxtrot Network" of Rawa Majid, "the Kurdish Fox", and the "Rumba Clan" of Ismail Addo known as "the Strawberry", particularly powerful mafia leaders. Both are from Kurdistan. One is hiding in Iraq, the other was arrested in Türkiye – without this weakening the activity of their gangs in Sweden.

Faced with the explosion of shootings and bomb attacks orchestrated by gang leaders, Swedish legislation has profoundly toughened its police and judicial approach. Preventive wiretapping of minors under 15, increased prison sentences, social networks under surveillance: the right-wing coalition that came to power in 2022 with the support of the Sweden Democrats (far right) has made the fight against crime its priority, particularly targeting the recruitment of minors. But this security turning point is validated beyond the ranks of the right and the extreme right. Thus the lowering of the criminal age from 15 to 14 years was adopted last August with the support of the social democratic opposition. The law came into force this Thursday, September 10.