Swedish Police Find Cache of ‘War Weapons’ in Stockholm Linked to ‘Criminal Network’

Swedish police have discovered a cache of “war weapons” during a raid in the south of Stockholm that has included automatic rifles, hunting rifles, ammunition, and drugs.

Stockholm police say they found the cache of weapons at a garage in Skärholmen, an area south of the Swedish capital, on Sunday evening. In a press release, the police claimed to have found the weapons inside a parked car and have arrested one man in connection with the raid.

“In the car were found among other things automatic weapons intended to be used in warfare. We also found explosives, hunting rifles, pistols, ammunition and several kilos of narcotics of various kinds,” said Jonas Lindberg, the officer in charge of the investigation.

“The investigation is just starting but at the moment, evidence points to a certain criminal network. I cannot tell you more at this point in time, but it is extremely positive that we got this much arms and drugs off the street in one fell swoop. They could have done great damage in the wrong hands,” Lindberg added.

In 2017, there were 129 shootings in Stockholm county alone and the level of shootings in other areas has increased rapidly with some blaming drugs and organised gangs for the rise.  

In addition to shootings, the number of high-profile attacks involving hand grenades or other explosives has also become a major issue across the country. On Tuesday, police in Gothenburg disarmed a bomb in a residential area uncovered by construction workers.

After evacuating 65 people in the area and disarming the device, police press spokesman Thomas Fuxborg described the weapon as an “explosive charge or bomb” and said that investigators were examining to determine its origin and whether or not it would have posed a serious threat to locals.