A 29-year-old from Uzbekistan was arrested in Sweden last week along with two other migrants for allegedly preparing for a terrorist attack, and now prosecutors claim he has been involved in other crimes as well.
The Uzbek migrant is accused of helping to finance “serious crimes” in February of this year, though prosecutors have been tight-lipped on details relating to the alleged crimes he is said to have helped finance, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.
The crimes would not be the first for the 29-year-old who came to Sweden in 2013. In January of last year, he was convicted of trying to purchase a mobile phone with a false identity.
The Uzbek migrant was arrested last week along with two others, a 45-year-old fellow Uzbek and a 38-year-old Kyrgyzstani, for preparing a potential terrorist attack.
According to an investigation into the social media accounts of the three men, the youngest is said to have used the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
The 29-year-old is said to have used the Islamic State flag as his profile picture on the app. Michael Krona, an Islamic State expert at the University of Malmö, said it was clear from the account that the migrant was a supporter of the terror group.
Telegram was also used by Stockholm terror attacker Rakhmat Akilov to communicate with members of the Islamic State terror group.
In one conversation, Akilov wrote: “My master I am in Sweden, I do not have any actions, the gay parade will take place here on May 1st, if I get someone who can coordinate, I’ll do a martyring here, if God wants.”
Since 2010 the number of violent Islamic extremists has greatly increased in Sweden from only 200 to over 2,000 by the summer of 2017. The Swedish security agency Sapo has claimed to receive as many as 6,000 tips related to extremism every month.
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