Considered one of Sweden’s most needed gang leaders, Ismail Abdo, has been arrested in Turkey, the Swedish prosecutor’s workplace mentioned on Friday.
The twin Swedish-Turkish nationwide has an in depth listing of drug-related expenses towards him in accordance with the worldwide police company, Interpol.
The 35-year-old, nicknamed The Strawberry, is a well known chief of the Rumba crime gang in Sweden. He’s accused of orchestrating unlawful operations from overseas and has been the topic of an Interpol pink discover since final 12 months.
Swedish police didn’t establish him, however confirmed the arrest of a person “suspected of getting engaged in critical drug trafficking and inciting critical violent crimes” for a few years in Sweden.
He was certainly one of 19 individuals who had been arrested throughout raids in Turkey, the place officers seized greater than a tonne of medication, state broadcaster TRT reported. Precisely the place the raids passed off has not been revealed.
Arrest warrants had been issued for an additional 21 suspects, of whom 14 had been believed to be overseas and three already in custody on different expenses. 4 are nonetheless at massive, TRT added.
Turkish authorities reportedly seized property price round 1.5bn Turkish lira (£27.8m; $38m), together with 20 automobiles, financial institution accounts and 51 actual property properties.
Gang violence in Sweden has escalated in recent times, partially as a result of Abdo’s former buddy, Rawa Majida, is the chief of a rival gang, Foxtrot.
Many individuals have been killed since their lethal turf struggle started. It entered a brand new, violent chapter in 2023 when Abdo’s mom was murdered in her dwelling in Uppsala, north of the capital, Stockholm.
The escalation prompted the federal government to usher in the military to assist deal with the surge in gang killings.
In 2024, Turkish police arrested Abdo throughout a visitors cease, however launched him on bail regardless of the energetic Interpol pink discover towards him – a transfer which drew criticism from Swedish authorities who had been looking for to extradite Abdo.
The rise in gang violence that has plagued a few of Sweden’s greatest cities and unfold to quieter suburbs and cities has shattered its fame as a protected and peaceable nation.
Lat 12 months, Sweden’s safety service, Sapo, accused Iran of recruiting Swedish gang members to hold out assaults on Israeli or Jewish pursuits. In October, a 13-year-old boy fired pictures outdoors the places of work of Israeli tech agency Elbit Techniques. Israel’s embassies in Sweden and Denmark had been additionally each focused.
Sweden’s centre-right governing coalition, which promised to finish the gang crime wave when it was elected in 2022, will see Abdo’s seize as a win. Nevertheless the truth that he’s additionally a Turkish citizen might complicate the extradition course of.
An estimated 14,000 folks in Sweden are caught up in felony gangs, in accordance with a police report final 12 months, and an additional 48,000 individuals are mentioned to be linked to them.
