Updated 06.54 | Published 06.53
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Tunisian police had been spying on the Swedes for several weeks before they struck.
Now the five men are to be taken to a special institution in Tunis.
All are loyal to Rawa Majid in the ongoing gang war, according to Aftonbladet’s information.
A special unit within the Tunisian police has been keeping an eye on the five Swedish gang members ever since they arrived in Tunisia a few weeks ago. This is stated by a source in Tunisia, for Aftonbladet.
After a period of scouting, they finally attacked the men. They were arrested in a car on their way to the city of Hammamet at the end of last week. Two pistols and drugs were also found in the car, according to Tunisian police.
A search warrant was also carried out after the arrest.
A picture that the police has posted on Facebook shows five Swedish passports, nine mobile phones, five maps, tablets and a hash cake. Another image shows five men with their backs to the camera.
Tunisian police have previously stated to Aftonbladet that those arrested are linked to Rawa Majid.
Details: Swedish gang leaders confirmed arrested
Swedish police have also been aware that the men have been in Tunisia for some time.
When the information about the arrest came last week, Swedish police suspected early on that it was, among other things, individuals who had been singled out as leaders within the Bro network. Since then, the Swedish police have worked to get the identities confirmed – and now they have received an answer to who they all are.
The five arrested in Tunisia are all allied with Rawa Majid’s Foxtrot side. Four of the men have been singled out as leading individuals in the Bridge Network. The fifth man also has connections to the same network, but is judged to have a less prominent role.
Several of them also appear in investigations concerning serious drug crimes.
A priority for the Swedish police must now be to get hold of the arrested men’s phones in order to be able to analyze the contents of the mobile phones, according to Aftonbladet’s information.
Suspected of being connected to a terrorist organization
Tunisian police suspected early on that the men were guilty of international drug trafficking.
But Aftonbladet can now reveal that there are more suspicions directed at the men. In documents relating to the arrests, which Aftonbladet has seen, it appears that the men were arrested on suspicion of “belonging to a terrorist organization”.
The men are to be transferred to a special detention center for individuals suspected of terrorism in the capital Tunis, according to Aftonbladet’s information.
The investigation against the men is still ongoing and what exactly the suspicions are based on is currently unknown. According to a Swedish police source, the Tunisian police have been tight-lipped about the details.
However, a source in Tunisia states that the serious criminal suspicions may be linked to the men’s possession of weapons.
– It could be that the men were arrested armed. We take this type of crime very seriously here and they will be detained for a long time now, he tells Aftonbladet.