“Close cooperation with Swedish police”

Sweden’s criminal network has invaded Norway – including the infamous Foxtrot network.
Now the country’s minister of justice wants to strengthen cooperation between the countries’ police authorities.
– It is clear that it is not good for criminal networks to establish themselves at the same time, so I am glad that we have close cooperation with the Swedish police and that the cooperation has become even stronger, says Emilie Mehl, Minister of Justice, Norway.

This week, the Norwegian National Criminal Police, Kripos, stated that Swedish gang criminals have increased their activity in Norway. In particular, the Foxtrot network, led by Rawa Majid, is singled out and alleged to be active over large parts of the country.

On Wednesday, the country’s Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl visited Stockholm to meet her Swedish colleague Gunnar Strömmer (M). Among other things, the talks have revolved around more effective cross-border police cooperation against serious organized crime.

– Our countries have in common that there are many young people who are recruited into crime, therefore the most important thing for us in Norway is to understand how we can stop it and how we can cut off the networks’ access to people, she says.

That criminal networks from Sweden also spread their activities to neighboring countries is unfortunately not surprising, says Gunnar Strömmer.

– Given how integrated our countries are in the Nordics, it is clear that it is a logical, if naturally very worrying development, that they also see a chance to establish themselves in cities in other Nordic countries, he says.

New police station

National Police Chief Anders Thornberg visited Oslo in early September and met his Norwegian counterpart Benedicte Bjørnland there. At a press conference in Oslo, it was established that Norwegian criminals buy weapons and explosives from Swedish criminals and that Swedish perpetrators are hired for acts of violence in Norway.

It was also announced that the cooperation between the countries’ police authorities should be deepened around the sharing of intelligence information about individuals and networks.

– Sweden has big problems, but there could be big problems in Norway too if we don’t work together.

The construction of a new joint police station will begin shortly in Eda municipality in Värmland. One half of the building will be located in Norway and the other half in Sweden, with the aim of strengthening operational work along the long border.