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The number of explosions has increased sharply in just a few weeks.
Several of them are linked to a new motif.
– Those who are at risk of being affected must know that it can escalate quickly, says Police Commissioner Johan Rydwik.
Three weeks into the new year, several places in the country have already been rocked by explosions.
Between January 1 and January 23, at least 19 completed explosions have taken place, according to Aftonbladet’s calculation.
In the last six days alone, a total of eight explosions have been reported.
The police have also seen that it is about explosions in two different contexts.
Some explosions are linked to conflicts in the gang criminal environment.
But in some of the cases, it involves a new approach, where explosions are directed at private individuals and entrepreneurs who have been subjected to blackmail and threats.
New motif behind explosions
– We usually associate this type of mode with criminal conflict environments, but now we see that the same mode and approach is used in an extortion environment, says Johan Rydwik, police commissioner at the police’s national operational department (Noa).
The people who are exposed to threats can do so for different reasons, and receive the threats in different ways.
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full screenJohan Rydwik police commissioner at the police’s national operational department. Photo: Mikaela Landeström/TT
But it can happen quickly, from being threatened to pay a sum to being exposed to an explosion.
– If you are threatened, it is important that you contact the police at an early stage. Those affected, and those at risk of being affected, must know that it can escalate quickly, Johan Rydwik continues.
– We prevent many incidents, but we want to prevent more, and then you have to alert us early, he continues.
Advice: Don’t make yourself vulnerable
The extortions have mainly been directed at people and entrepreneurs in Stockholm, but the police have seen that the approach has also increased in other parts of the country.
In many of the cases, it is companies in the restaurant industry and car companies that have been affected.
Johan Rydwik says that you should think about not making yourself vulnerable. For example, it could be about not borrowing money from uncertain sources.
– This is a modus operandi used by several different criminal environments, he continues.