Sweden said Friday it planned to criminalize membership in crime networks and gangs, including life sentences, in a mounting crackdown ahead of legislative elections in September.
The minority rightwing government, backed by the far-right Sweden Democrats, said it was considering introducing legislation that police have estimated could put 700 people behind bars each year.
Sweden has struggled for over a decade to contain a surge in organized violent crime, linked primarily to gang wars and battles to control the drug market.
Shootings and bombings have become regular occurrences, occasionally claiming innocent victims.
A government-commissioned report was submitted to Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer on Friday, recommending legislation criminalizing membership in, and association with, criminal networks and gangs.
“This could include gang leaders and others who, in various ways, enable the gangs’ criminal activities without there being a clear link to a specific offence,” Strommer said.
“We know that this type of legislation has been very important in other countries that have successfully combatted gang-related crime,” he said.
Strommer said Swedish society “has not been equipped to cope with” the surge in crime.
A new law could be in place by April 1, 2027, and could carry Sweden’s harshest penalty of life in prison for the most severe offences.
Police have earlier estimated that 17,500 people are actively involved in criminal networks in Sweden, and 50,000 have ties to the networks.
The networks are involved in drug and arms trafficking, welfare fraud and human trafficking, and pose a “systemic threat” to the Scandinavian country, the government has said.
They are reported to have infiltrated Sweden’s welfare sector, local politics, legal and education systems as well as juvenile detention care.
Statistics have shown that while shootings have declined since the rightwing government came to power in 2022, the number of bombings has soared.
The number of young teens suspected of violent crimes has also skyrocketed, as gangs increasingly recruit children under the age of criminal responsibility — 15 — to do their dirty work.
