The Spanish coastal city of Marbella has long been the center of Europe’s drug trade. At the same time, it is a city that has attracted Swedes to move for decades. After a wave of violence in 2018 on the Spanish sun coast, the Swedish criminal networks have strengthened their position and presence in the area and the trend is for them to acquire more and more power.
“On the same level as the big ones”
– I would say that the Swedish mafia is on the same level as, for example, the British or Dutch mafia. They are fewer in number but the leaders have just as much power, says a Spanish police inspector in Marbella who, because of his work against the criminal networks, wishes to remain anonymous.
He sees a big difference compared to ten years ago, when there were hardly any Swedes in the Spanish police investigations.
Several Swedish networks in Marbella connected to the drug trade have been of interest to the police in recent years, and new investigations are underway. In addition to gang criminals, it is also about established Swedish entrepreneurs in Marbella who are being investigated for money laundering linked to the drug trade.
Villas for SEK 50-100 million
At the same time that Marbella has become a new meeting point for criminals from Sweden, the area continues to attract many Swedes. The broker Jimmy Widén from Sollentuna, who sells luxury properties with price tags of around SEK 50-100 million to well-off Swedes in Marbella, says that crime does not interfere with his business. He is not surprised by the development.
– No matter what profession you have, whether you are a criminal or a broker, you like the sun and playing padel, he says in the series “Marbella”.
He believes that Marbella will continue to grow and several celebrities and social media influencers give the image of a paradise.
– It is so much easier to work from here with creating content, says the influencer Victoria Eklund, who believes that she does not notice the gang conflicts that are being talked about.
New base on the Spanish sunny coast
But for the Swedish police, the picture is clear. Criminals from several Swedish cities live and operate on the Spanish sunny coast. There they engage in drug trafficking, financial crime and also fraud against the elderly.
– They don’t want to see the escalation of violence we have in Spain. We have a daily exchange with the Spanish police and have achieved several operational successes in recent years, says Sofie Holmqvist, deputy head of NOA’s investigation unit.
The police cannot give an exact figure for how many criminally active Swedes there are on the Spanish sunny coast. But it’s about 100s.
– Maybe not a thousand, but more towards a thousand than under a thousand, says policeman Stefan Larsson at the National Operative Department (NOA).