Two police officers in Värmland were on a routine mission – this was the start of Sweden’s biggest environmental scandal

The witness in Segerstad said that there was possibly dumping of waste on a property nearby, and thought that the police officers Jesper Lindström and Joel Forsgren should take a closer look.

When they arrived at the designated location, they saw a large pile of partially buried waste.

– We went out into the terrain along a small forest road, and then we did not immediately discover a small dump but a dumping of waste in large quantities. Then we had to put on different glasses, says Jesper Lindström, police commissioner in the Bergslagen region.

Suspicions against Think Pink four years after the discovery

The Värmland police’s discovery in 2016 was the start of what later became Sweden’s largest environmental crime investigation. During the investigation, the suspects’ phones were examined and the leads then led to the extensive investigation into Think Pink, something that the GP had previously told.

But it was not until 2020 that an investigation regarding suspicions of serious environmental crimes was launched, and where the waste management company Think Pink was suspected of having buried and dumped waste illegally.

There are around 20 places around the country where the waste has been dumped, and a number of people have been charged with involvement in the mess.

Joel Forsberg, police inspector at the Bergslagen police region, has been involved in the legal process.

– I have had to contribute my observations as a witness, he says.

The trial in the so-called Think Pink scandal starts on Tuesday, September 3.

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