Swedish father and son arrested in Spain – allegedly recruited children in Sweden and Denmark

It was on Wednesday that three Swedes were arrested by police in Alicante, Spain through a collaboration between Europol and Swedish, Danish and Spanish police.

The trio, who have been requested to be extradited to Sweden, were detained on Wednesday in their absence by the Solna district court.

One of them, a man, is suspected of having a “controlling role” in extensive drug crime. He is also suspected of serious money laundering and preparation for particularly serious arms smuggling of “at least 30 automatic rifles and 20 pistols” that were to be brought into Sweden.

Father and son arrested

The crimes in question are suspected to have been committed by one of the other two arrested in Spain – who is the man’s son.

The boy is suspected of a series of attempted murders, serious weapons offences, preparation for murder and serious destruction of public property. The crimes are said to have taken place in connection with acts of violence in Copenhagen, Malmö and Stockholm during the spring and summer of 2024, where young people were recruited as perpetrators.

In all cases, he must have caused others to carry out the acts.

– You can say that that person has been involved in recruiting people for these acts of violence, says prosecutor Anna Arnell to Aftonbladet.

She does not want to comment on the boy’s age, but the documents show that he is 15 years old.

Supposed to have sent threats signed with a strawberry

The boy is also suspected of aggravated blackmail and attempted aggravated blackmail against parents whose sons incurred alleged debts.

In both cases, the parents received threatening messages signed with a strawberry, a symbol of wanted gang leader Ismail “Strawberry” Abdo.

According to several Swedish and Danish media, the former Foxtrot summit is connected to an ongoing gang conflict in Denmark which led to Swedish “child soldiers” traveling across the strait to commit serious crimes.

The third person arrested in Spain, who according to media reports is a woman, is suspected of serious money laundering.

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