Swedish authorities have stopped and inspected over 5,000 vehicles in 36 hours at the ports of Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Trelleborg as part of a new operation to tackle gang crime networks.
The initiative, labelled operation Trident, is set to last a week but has already led to 22 individuals being excluded from the country, broadcaster Sveriges Radio reports.
In addition to police, the Swedish customs authority and the coastguard are also participating in the operation.
Mats Löfving, head of the police’s national operational department Noa, commented on the operation saying: “We are very intensive in our border surveillance to prevent people who travel to Sweden to commit crimes from even entering the country.”
Löfving added that the operation would also aid police who are expected to file a report to the government in February on how to improve tactics to fight against international gang networks.
“We learn both about people and vehicles and what we call mode — that is, the approaches that criminals use,” he said.
The operation comes as Denmark recently enacted much stricter border checks with Sweden due to the rising level of gang violence, especially explosions and bombing attacks.
One bombing, which occurred at a Danish Tax Agency office in the capital of Copenhagen in August, was revealed to have been allegedly carried out by Swedish nationals living just across the border in the multicultural city of Malmö.
The stricter Swedish border controls are also likely in response to the high number of foreign gangs involved in vehicle thefts in the country. Figures from Nao released earlier in the month showed that nine in ten car thefts in Sweden are linked to foreign gangs.
The report also added that border agents had a difficult time stopping stolen vehicles from leaving the country due to a lack of legislation.
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