The drug police consider the testing reliable. The laboratory confirmed that cocaine was found in the cloths used in the test.
Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet revealed traces of cocaine of the premises of the four parties.
Cocaine residues were found in the toilets used by the Liberals, Social Democrats, Sweden Democrats and the Left Party.
Aftonbladet’s investigative reporter Lisa Horn shows in the video how he wipes the toilets of the party offices in the Parliament building with a drug cloth.
The test strip reacts to cocaine immediately.
Not just anyone can get to the places where the tests were done. You can only enter with a pass or in the company of the person who owns it. Horn has entered the building because he is interviewing politicians about Sweden’s drug legislation.
The test used a pink test cloth, which changes color if it concerns cocaine. Such cloths are used by the authorities in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Hong Kong, the United States and Great Britain. A blue stain on a cloth gives a strong indication of cocaine, but it is not admissible as evidence in court.
The parties assure Horn that they are actively working to eradicate the drug problem. So I saw at the same time that traces of cocaine were found in the toilets used by the parties. Drug legislation has been tightened in Sweden, but the problem only seems to be growing.
– We want to help those who are stuck in addiction, liberal politician Jakob Olofsgaard assures.
– All drug use ultimately benefits gangs and gang crime, states the Social Democrats Lena Hallengren.
Drug police: “There has been cocaine in that place”
Swedish long-time drug police Lennart Karlsson tells Aftonbladet that, in general, the cloths used in the test are very reliable.
– As soon as it hits the cocaine powder, you get a reaction, Karlsson describes the test cloth.
The test cloths used by Aftonbladet are taken to the laboratory, which confirms the suspicions of cocaine. According to it, all the samples contain cocaine.
Horn shows Karlsson the videos filmed at the Diet so that Karlsson doesn’t know where they were filmed at first. In the videos, Horn describes a test cloth that turns blue over and over again while wiping toilets.
– There has been cocaine in that place, says Karlsson.
The video in question was filmed in the toilets of the Liberal Party’s office. The test cloth also reacts strongly in the video taken from the toilet of the Social Democrats’ office.
– I think the reaction is really clear, describes Karlsson.
The reaction when Horn wipes the toilet of the Swedish Democrats’ office is also clear and immediate.
A slightly lighter reaction comes from the toilet on the left, but even there the drug stain clearly reacts to cocaine.
Cocaine residues were found in the toilets of four of the eight parties.
The parties demand further clarifications
The news has been reacted to quite shocked. The parties in whose toilets traces of cocaine have been found have demanded further investigations.
The situation puts the speeches of the parties in a questionable light, because several parties have strongly opposed so-called party drugs.
– This is a workplace that must be drug-free and safe. It has a very strong symbolic value if the highest decision-making place is not drug-free. I am shocked, says the Deputy Prime Minister, Christian Democrats Ebba Busch for Aftonbladet.