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Four arrested for Gothenburg airport heist

25th April 2006

Four men have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the audacious robbery at Gothenburg's Landvetter airport at the beginning of March.

The men were siezed at around 7am on Tuesday in a coordinated raid at a number of locations in the city, said the police in a press statement.

Some of those taken into custody are linked to the Bandidos criminal network.

Two of the men were born in 1973, one was born in 184 and another in 1969. All four live in Gothenburg.

The men will be interviewed on Tuesday and prosecutor Peter Larsson will decide later if they should be held in custody.

"It was a planned coordinated action with a large number of police officers who arrested the men in their homes," said police press officer Malin Sahlström to TT.

Soon afterwards police raided a property known to be used by the Bandidos, since one of those arrested was linked to the organisation.

"The background to the arrests is the detective work which has been ongoing since the robbery on March 7th. Many different factors have meant we were able to round up this group," said Sahlström.

Police made seizures at the suspects' homes as well as in the Bandidos' property, but would not say what they found.

"That will be revealed during the investigation," said Sahlström.

If the prosecutor decides to hold the men, there will probably be court proceedings at the end of the week, she added.

"If they've got the right people then it's obviously pleasing - but I can't say any more than that," commented Dan Larsson, the head of security at Landvetter airport.

The airport has been providing information to the police ever since the robbery, but Larsson did not know whether this had contributed to the case against the four men.

Bandidos is one of the world's largest criminal motorcycle gangs, similar to the Hell's Angels and the Outlaws. Bandidos is an umbrella organisation with supporter clubs, or 'hangarounds' known as X-teams.

A recent study carried out by the Swedish police showed an increase in organised crime in Sweden linked to criminal motorcycle gangs and their supporters. There has also been an associated rise in threats and harassment of victims, witnesses, police and other authorities.

Between 1998 and 2004 there was a fivefold increase in the number of blackmail convictions of Bandidos and Hell's Angels members.


Gang attacks plane in Gothenburg

7th March 2006

An audacious armed robbery and a bomb threat at Gothenburg's Landvetter Airport on Wednesday led to the evacuation of the airport and the cancellation of a number of flights.

Robbers struck against an SAS plane, flight SK524 from London Heathrow, according to SAS's information manager Bertil Tenert.

The robbers rammed through the gates of the airport with a vehicle, possibly a Jeep Cherokee that was later found burnt out on a road near the airport.

The attack took place at around 12.30 pm, at the exact moment when bags containing money were being unloaded into a Securitas secure vehicle, it was revealed at a press conference at the airport on Tuesday afternoon. The bags largely contained foreign exchange.

Hans Lippens of Swedish Police said that Securitas staff were threatened by the thieves, who were armed and masked. No shots were fired.

It is believed that the assailants might have made away in the Jeep, changing cars later to a Volvo, which was found burnt out by Landvetter church, a few kilometres away.

There were 91 passengers, including two children, and five crew on the SAS flight. They were disembarking the plane when the robbers struck against staff unloading the aircraft hold.

An unnamed passenger on another flight that arrived from London at 12.40 told news agency TT that he saw what was happening from the window of the plane.

"When I saw men with masks running towards a red car I realised it was a robbery," he said, adding that he was stuck at the airport because his plane could not be emptied of luggage.

SAS Cargo was responsible for freight handling on the flight.

According to Rolf Friberg, chairman and information manager at foreign exchange company Forex, the money was intended for a number of banks in western Sweden.

The amount that was stolen has not yet been revealed. John Bergström at Securitas said that the amount was less than the 44 million kronor stolen in the hold up of a plane at Stockholm's Arlanda airport in June 2002.

"It is far from that amount," said Bergström.

It is also unknown how many robbers there were, although some evidence suggests there were three, say police.

"Evidently a well-planned robbery," was Lippen's judgment.

The police's job has been complicated by the fact that the robbers placed a bag on the tarmac by the plane.

"We are working on the assumption that it contains explosives, and are treating it as suspect for the moment," Lippen commented.

The bag has posed major problems for flights in and out of the airport, as the safety cordon of 200 metres has forced the closure of the international departures hall.

These parts of the airport will remain closed until at least 7pm on Tuesday, according to Landvetter's security manager Dan Larsson. It would take until then to determine what is in the case.

Domestic flights are continuing, but with severe delays.

Plane raid suspects held in custody

28th April 2006

Four men were remanded in custody by Gothenburg district court on Friday on suspicion of the raid on an SAS plane at the city's Landvetter airport in March.

The men, who were arrested in their homes in Gothenburg on Tuesday morning, are aged 21, 32, 33 and 36. They all come from the Gothenburg area.

Some of them are, according to police, linked to a criminal motorcycle gang called the Bandidos.

On Friday a 20 year old man was also remanded in custody on suspicion of receiving stolen goods.

After the men were seized on Tuesday, police searched their homes as well as a property used by the Bandidos in the Gamlestaden part of Gothenburg.

The Landvetter robbers made off with millions of kronor. On March 7th, at least four armed men raided the plane's hold while passengers were disembarking.

On the evening of the robbery a 37 year old man was arrested in Bohus, north of the city. He is also in custody.

Another man is suspected of involvement in the crime and he has been charged in his absence.

Most members of criminal organisations are suspected of individual crimes
Central Criminal Police: Russian criminals are infiltrating Finnish business life

4-5-06 Helsingin Sanomat

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Finland's central criminal police, suspects around 65 percent of the known members of organised criminal gangs of having committed various crimes.

This was the portion under criminal investigation of the just under 1,000 members of known crime organisations in Finland last year, the NBI annual report reveals.

In 2005, police filed around 2,000 crimes that were suspected of having been carried out by members of various criminal organisations. The spectrum of felonies varied from property and economic crimes to drug-related and violent offences.

Economic crime, in particular, with receipt manufacturing and concealed salaries, has started to interest criminal organisations more and more because of its considerable profit potential.

The general image of the organised crime has not changed dramatically in recent years, the NBI report suggests.

Its activities, however, are becoming more professional, wider, and more international. Threats against witnesses and officials have also increased. Cramped conditions in the nation's prisons have also aided the criminals' networking and made recruiting new members easier.

In the public eye, most attention centres on organisations with visible insignia, such as motorcycle gangs. According to the NBI, however, most professional criminal organisations aim to keep their activities below the radar.

In all, the police were aware of a total of 79 criminal organisations, 37 of which were under investigation.

Thirty-five of these groups fulfilled the EU criteria for organised crime. This means they were long-term organisations with a low turnover of members.

The average investigation time for crimes committed by such groups was just under a year.

Most of the members of the criminal organisations known by the police were Finns. A majority of the 15-percent share of foreign members came from Russia and Estonia.

Russian organised crime continues its infiltration into Finnish business life, the NBI has noticed. It strengthens its hold of the freight transport, forwarding, and logistics enterprises. In trafficking across the eastern border the main goal is to avoid taxes.

According to the NBI, such companies are well aware of the investigation and information gathering principles used by the officials.

"The range of means of investigation available to the authorities needs constant updating in the rapidly changing operating environment", the annual report observes.

Armed men spring drugs man from courtroom - Sweden

12th May 2006

Two masked and armed men stormed into Västerås district court on Friday lunchtime and set free a defendant.

The 52-year old Stockholm man who was released was the main figure in a drugs trial, and was charged with possessing 20 kilos of amphetamines. At the time of the raid the court was in the middle of a committal hearing.

A black BMW drove to the court entrance. Two short, thin men, wearing blue and wearing balaclavas ran through the court's front office and into the courtroom. One of the men was armed and pointed his automatic weapon round the courtroom in a sweeping motion.

The defendant stood up and ran out with the two raiders. A fourth man is believed to have driven the getaway car, which left the scene heading north.

"The events happened quickly and were a shock for all involved, but several of those present rushed after the men when they left," police spokesman Börje Strömberg said.

"We had no indications that something like this could happen. If we had, the committal hearing would have taken place in the police station rather that at the court."

The BMW, which was stolen in Stockholm, was found at around 1pm outside a burger restaurant in western Västerås. The police sealed off the area to conduct a forensic examination and to question witnesses. They were told that the fugitives possibly swapped to a black Saab 9000, which was seen driving from the restaurant at around 12 pm.

"We know the numbers on the registration plates, and we are now checking all Saabs with that number combination," Strömberg said.

A nationwide alert has been issued following the break-out. Police set up road blocks around Västerås and are using helicopters in the search. The escaped man's public defender, Per-Eric Erlandsson, was in court when his client escaped. He did not want to make any comment on the events.

"The hearing was held behind closed doors. I can't reveal anything," he said.

The freed man was arrested by the drugs squad in Stockholm in March. 18 kilos of amphetamines, believed to have been smuggled in from the Netherlands, were found in a secret compartment in his car. Another seven people are suspected of being involved in the crime, which involved a total of 20 kilos of the drug, with a street value of 5 million kronor.

Police say they know a great deal about the man's contact network through their investigation. They say they have plenty of lines of inquiry in their attempt to find out who spirited him away.

"We've formed a good picture of him, but he has many contacts, and there's a lot of money involved in the deals," Börje Strömberg said.

Axel Jörgensen

International hunt for court escapee - Sweden

13th May 2006

The 52 year old man who escaped from Västerås district court on Friday with the help of two armed men was still at large early on Saturday afternoon.

A massive search is underway and police have opened a hotline in the hope that the public will be able to help with information.

Police in Västmanland and across the country have had a number of tip-offs in the hunt for the 52 year old and the men who sprang him from the courtroom. But investigators say they are particularly keen to hear from anyone who witnessed their escape in a black BMW combi.

At around 11.30am on Friday two "short, thin men", wearing blue and wearing balaclavas ran through the court's front office and into the courtroom. One of the men was armed and pointed his automatic weapon round the courtroom in a sweeping motion.

The defendant stood up and ran out with the two raiders. A fourth man is believed to have driven the getaway car, which left the scene heading north.

As well as the BMW, a dark Saab 9000 is thought to have been used in the escape.

"They put their balaclavas on before they rushed into the courtroom. Someone could have seen them unmasked just beforehand," said Börje Strömberg at Västmanland police.

The Saab, which the men are thought to have switched to at a hamburger restaurant in Västerås, has not yet been recovered. Police have still not found any vehicle with the car registration noted by a witness.

"Either the witness got it wrong or the car had false plates," said Strömberg.

Police officers are concentrating on trying to get inside information this weekend. The 52 year old has been thoroughly investigated in a far-reaching drugs case with him at the centre, and police are confident that they are well-informed about his contact network.

He is suspected of smuggling large quantities of amphetamines from the Netherlands.

"The man has many international contacts and we have not ruled out the possibility that he has left the country, or that he will try to do so," said Strömberg.

Police have issued an international alert for the man.

Organised crime morphs

08.08.2006 Copenhagen Post

The relative strength of immigrant gangs has risen dramatically since 2005, forcing organised motorcycle gangs onto the defensive

More clashes between rival gangs in Denmark's underworld are on the way. Since 2005, activities of immigrant gangs has seen a marked rise, according to the Danish National Police's annual report on organised crime.

'I don't want to fan the flames and say that we will see a recurrence of biker wars between the newest elements, but our investigations indicate that there will be more clashes between rival gangs,' Kim Kliver from the National Police told daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

Inter-gang fighting between the Hells Angels and the Bandidos weakened the two groups' grip on the illegal drug market during the mid-1990s. In addition, police cracked down on biker gangs by tracking financial activities, limiting the gangs' activities. The method, introduced in 2002, is known as the Al Capone method.

Since the rival motorcycle gangs signed a truce in September 1997, immigrant gangs have made an entrance into the lucrative narcotics trade. The organised gangs have capitalised on the police crackdown of biker gangs. Previously it was the Bandidos and the Hells Angels that controlled the trafficking of women and drugs to and from Denmark.

'The relative strength and the balance of power between biker gangs and other criminal groups and networks changed significantly during 2005. The shift is evidenced by a lower number of confrontations between biker gangs and other gangs. Biker gangs have begun to react more passively to provocative behaviour from the other groups,' the report stated.

Kliver said while a fusion of the two biker gangs is unlikely, he would not be surprised if the Hells Angels and the Bandidos adopted a common strategy for dealing with immigrant gangs.

The police also began using the Al Capone method of tracking financial activities of immigrant gangs at the start of 2005. The tracking has resulted in several arrests in the Copenhagen area.

The annual report on organised crime also states that both biker gangs and immigrant gangs have stepped up their criminal activities outside of Denmark's borders.

The police have tracked Danish criminal activity to other European countries, Asia and South America. The spread of activities has intensified connections to foreign organised crime groups, according to the report.

Midnight sun has a dark side
Mafia thugs have come from the Balkans, jolting Scandinavia with their viciousness.

By Jeffrey Fleishman
LA Times Staff Writer
December 10, 2006

MALMO, SWEDEN — He ended up in a tipped-over chair, his tennis shoes pointing to the sky, blood running.

It happened fast. The girls were out in backless dresses and the boys were ordering ice creams. Petar Grujic finished his cappuccino, clinked a few coins in the saucer for a tip. Pistol shots snapped the seaside air outside Cafe Nesta, and Grujic, a poker player and mafia confidant, tumbled backward.

The masked shooter vanished down sunlit cobblestones. A blanket was thrown over the deceased, covering all but the sneakers, white ones with blue stripes. Evidence bags rustled like whispers. Ambulance doors closed and another guy with a Balkan last name and a cellphone full of intriguing numbers rolled toward the morgue.

This city smells of creosote, perfume and the occasional wisp of gunpowder. Cruise ships billow in like white clouds upon the sea. The government website says 270,000 people live here, speaking 100 languages and representing 164 nationalities. Until that July afternoon in 2005, Grujic was one of them. The Serb was stitched in to a Balkan organized crime network that spread across Scandinavia in the late 1980s, bringing antitank missiles and hit men to the land of social harmony and polished Volvos.

Serbian and ethnic Albanian clans today control heroin flowing north out of Afghanistan, weapons smuggled through the Balkans, prostitutes trafficked from Africa to the alleys of Copenhagen; they mastermind the brazen armed robberies of security trucks ferrying cash, and have connections to a Norwegian criminal organization behind the daylight museum heist of "The Scream."

Theirs is a dark story of immigration in which economic desperation and then war sent migrants and refugees streaming through the continent. Some of today's most wanted Balkan criminals arrived in Sweden, Norway and Denmark as teenagers in the 1970s and '80s when their families answered calls for construction and factory workers. Others trickled in with refugees fleeing the 1990s Bosnian and Kosovo wars, trailing connections to mafia clans that thrived on the reputedly criminal state run by former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

'Extremely violent'

"The ethnic Albanian mafia is very powerful and extremely violent," said Kim Kliver, chief investigator for organized crime with the Danish National Police. "If you compare them to the Italian Mafia, the Albanians are stronger and not afraid of killing."

Such viciousness has jolted Scandinavia, where until recently bank deposit trucks in many cities traveled with unarmed guards. These days Heckler machine guns, Molotov cocktails and Kalashnikovs are the new accouterments to crime scenes and police evidence rooms. Shootouts and assassination attempts echo through Stockholm, Copenhagen and other cities. Even in relatively small Malmo, six Balkan mafia figures have been slain since 2002, according to police.

"They brought this gangster mentality that wasn't anything like the normal Swedish criminal," said one Swedish police investigator, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution. "Sweden is a good country for the Balkan guys. It's good money, it's easy to hide, and compared to their countries the prisons are like heaven."

With the loosening of Europe's borders in recent years, it's easy for a drug trafficker to load a Mercedes with heroin in Bulgaria and drive across the continent and over the sea to Scandinavia. If he's arrested, he'll encounter lenient judicial systems. If he's jailed, he'll find escape an option, like the ethnic Albanian drug smuggler from Kosovo who paid off a guard and slipped out of a Norwegian prison in a truck, or the Serb in a Stockholm prison who was given a weekend pass to visit his wife and sneaked off to Greece.

"We need tougher laws, but that directly contradicts our open society," said Bo Lundqvist, a Malmo-based detective superintendent investigating the Grujic slaying. "We don't have the equivalent of a racketeering act. We can't bug offices or cars. There's no plea-bargaining for criminals willing to testify against organized crime. And we're looking at individual crimes and not the larger picture. We get the small courier but not the big guy in Europe."

The ranks of couriers are endless and globalized, relying on doctored passports, cellphones and scattered diasporas. Law enforcement authorities estimate that even a small Albanian gang may smuggle as much as 440 pounds of heroin a year into Scandinavia.

Two of the most renowned Balkan figures, police say, work on opposite sides of Sweden. Naser Dzeljilji is an ethnic Albanian from Macedonia who lives in Goteborg, on the west coast. Milan Sevo is a Serb nicknamed the godfather of Stockholm. Dzeljilji is slight and quiet. A muscular man with a goatee, Sevo is gregarious; his wedding, police say, was an underworld social event of cigars and champagne.

Police say both men are smooth and likable, and both have survived assassination attempts, including one this summer, when two gunmen shot Dzeljilji in both arms and through the liver while he was parking his car. Sevo's enemies have tried to kill him with bombs, nails and bullets. He has slipped into hiding.

Sevo's police file is a narrative of a man navigating two worlds. His family roots are reportedly near Bosanski Petrovac on the western edge of what is now Bosnia-Herzegovina. He was a toddler when he and his family arrived in Sweden. As a teenager in the suburbs of Stockholm, Sevo discovered taekwondo.

He ran with a group of other 15- and 16-year-olds who, according to police, veered into crime by their early 20s. They had a proclivity for robbing money transport trucks, fraud and extortion.

"They were a special group," said another police investigator, adding that 10 of the original 25 members of the organization have since been killed or died of drug use. "One of them even became an actor in his own movie. Sevo became a leader of this group. He was a tough guy. He has a lot of guts and a lot of confidence."

By the early 1990s, Sevo's criminal offenses included weapons, drugs, conspiracy and dealing in steroids. At the same time, Yugoslavia was cracking along ethnic lines. Nationalism and war rumbled; suddenly geopolitics had meaning on the tidy streets of Stockholm, where Balkan gun-runners, cigarette smugglers and dope dealers mingled with refugees.

There were also whispers of the latest exploits of Zeljko Raznatovic, known as Arkan, a bank robber and jewel thief wanted throughout Europe. He became a Serbian hero by commanding paramilitary brigades that killed Bosnian Muslims and Croats before his own assassination in a Belgrade hotel lobby.

Swedish police confiscated photographs showing Arkan and Sevo standing together in military fatigues. "Sevo liked that picture," the investigator said. "It was for him to show the people back in Sweden that he was in Arkan's place and was with Arkan's Tigers. Sevo has told people he fought in the Balkans, but we don't know if that's true or not."

Other connections

Sevo had other connections. He befriended Dragan Joksovic, a gambler and a leader in Sweden's cigarette black market who in 1998 was killed at a racetrack during a feud over territory and profits. Cigarettes smuggled out of Yugoslavia and illegally sold across Europe were the hallmarks of a Balkan region that skirted economic sanctions and exported criminals.

"Joksovic put Sevo under his wing," said another police official who has investigated Sevo. "It was a time when the Balkan guys were taking over some of the best restaurants in Stockholm…. Joksovic thought when he died Sevo would take over the empire."

A picture taken of Sevo in prison shows a weightlifter's arms and a taut stomach. Sevo worked as a bouncer in discos and bars owned by Ratko Djokic, arms merchant, cigarette smuggler and boxing club entrepreneur. Sevo married the boss' daughter, Aleksandra. He cut his long dark hair. He wore nicer suits. And the assassination attempts began, including a convoluted scheme by three Russian hit men that ended when two of the would-be killers turned on the third, cutting him up with a chain saw and burying him in wet concrete.

In 2001, a gunman ambushed Sevo outside his home. Only slightly wounded, Sevo fired back. "That same night," said one investigator, "Sevo appeared in restaurants saying, 'You see, they can't hurt me.' "

Gunfire rang across Stockholm immediately after the attempt. Within four months, police said, two of Sevo's enemies had been killed and a third wounded. Sevo was arrested on suspicion of murder, but never convicted. In 2003, assassins shot his father-in-law 30 times outside a club. Sevo rose to become a central figure in Stockholm's crime scene, police said.

Attempts to reach Sevo through his lawyer were unsuccessful. A 2004 interview with Sevo appeared in the Belgrade tabloid Kurir under the headline, "Underworld: Confession of Milan Sevo." He said, "It is true that I am influential in the Stockholm underworld, but not in the sense of organized crime. I know a lot of people from the underworld who respect me, and I have a lot of friends who are in that. But since getting married, I have been doing only legal business."

At the time the interview appeared, Sevo was supposed to be serving a two-year prison sentence on weapons-related charges. But he had been on the run for months after receiving a weekend prison pass to visit his family. He fled Sweden with his wife and children and was arrested in March 2005 in Greece. He was extradited to Sweden, where he finished his sentence — he served no extra time for the escape — and was released June 17, 2005.

"We don't know where he is now," the police official said. "But he's not in Sweden."

About 250 miles from Stockholm, Scandinavian orderliness scrubs against Balkan unruliness in the immigrant neighborhoods fringing Goteborg. Women in scarves and long coats haul grocery bags over swept sidewalks, while in the apartments above, young men with cellphones to their ears stand at windows, looking down at pine trees and playgrounds.

Naser Dzeljilji arrived on these streets as a young man in the early 1980s. He mixed in with immigrants seeking work at the Volvo plant and other factories. He began breaking into houses, police say, and reportedly washed dishes and worked as a street cleaner before rising through the dark attrition of organized crime networks that straddle Sweden and Norway.

Involved in shootouts, jailed for stabbing a man, convicted of fraud and drug crimes, Dzeljilji has twice escaped to other countries: Macedonia in 2004 and Denmark in 2005. In the summer, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for drugs, weapons and conspiracy offenses but is free on appeal. Police say Dzeljilji, who also could not be reached through his attorney, is insulated by underlings who won't betray him.

"He's not flashy, no Armani suits, although sometimes you see him in a beautiful Mercedes," a detective specializing in organized crime said of Dzeljilji. "These days, though, he's been on the run or in the courts. In August, two guys … shot him three times while he was parking his car. He's moving more stiffly."

Dzeljilji became a suspect in one of Scandinavia's most daring and violent robberies. On April 5, 2004, assailants set a van ablaze and set off tear gas near a police station in the Norwegian city of Stavanger. While police were preoccupied with the chaos, another team of about 13 men, clad in black and carrying sledgehammers and automatic weapons, broke into a nearby deposit center in the basement of Norway's central bank, killing a police officer and getting away with nearly $10 million.

The robbery was carried out by Norwegian crime boss David Toska, who was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Police also quickly focused on Dzeljilji and his organization, known as the Albania League. DNA and other evidence revealed that ethnic Albanians who worked for Dzeljilji as bodyguards were involved in the robbery. Two of them are in prison; the other has disappeared.

A few months after the heist, the case spun into another dimension when masked men startled tourists on a Sunday morning in an Oslo museum. The thieves ripped Edvard Munch's masterpieces "The Scream" and "Madonna" off the walls and fled in a waiting car. Prosecutors believe the paintings, recovered this year, were ordered stolen by Toska's gang to divert police attention from the deposit center robbery.

'Proverbial ambassador'

Petar Grujic knew Dzeljilji. He knew Sevo, too.

But Grujic didn't know the masked gunman who killed him on that summer afternoon in Malmo. Police would not comment on a suspect.

"Grujic was the proverbial ambassador," investigator Lundqvist said. "He was the one turning the wheels, the peacemaker between several different gangs. He was not a violent man, quite to the contrary."

Grujic wore big glasses and had bristly, gray-flecked hair. He arrived in Sweden in the 1970s, moving to Malmo ahead of thousands of immigrants who would eventually leaven the city with spices, embroidered linens and calls to prayer. Police say he was involved in restaurants and cigarette smuggling; he counseled Arkan, Joksovic and Djokic. He survived them all, living long enough to see his Yugoslavia implode.

Six months before his slaying, Grujic was kidnapped. His family called the police. He was released a day later, saying only that his abductors demanded 300,000 euros. It is not known whether he paid. Criminals of all persuasions attended his funeral, including a Hells Angels president who came as a pallbearer.

'Swedes of the Year' stood up to criminal gangs

Published: 21st December 2006
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/5875/

The owners of a Gothenburg restaurant who stood up to gangs that tried to extort protection money have been named Swedes of the year.

Masoud and Shahnaz Garakoei were awarded the honour by Fokus magazine at a ceremony in Stockholm on Thursday. The jury of journalists, business people and figures from the voluntary sector said that the couple had "acted with exceptional courage in a life-threatening situation."

"They have risked their own security and defended the value of democratic rights, laws and justice. Their acts are characterized by great courage and high integrity and are an inspiring role model for others.”

The couple's ordeal started in 2003 when two men walked in their Persian restaurant in Gothenburg and asked to speak to Mr Garakoei.

“We are Bandidos. We own Hisinge and we are here to protect you from the Russian mob. Pay us and don’t tell this to anyone,” one of the men said.

Two days later, Mr. Garakoei handed over a bag with 120,000 kronor to them. His wife had wanted to go to the police, but he was afraid of what the gang might do to their children.

He later came to regret having given Bandidos the money. He started suffering from depression, and considered both divorce and suicide. Mrs Garakoei struggled to keep the restaurant up and running.

A year later, when Bandidos demanded a further 120,000 kronor, Mr. Garakoei refused. He walked over to Bandidos’ headquarters, came face to face with the president and told him that he would not pay. He then ran home and called the police.

Two trials later, seven Bandidos members were convicted and many received long jail sentences for blackmail. The couple testified at the trials, despite receiving death threats.

But the threats and blackmail did not stop following the convictions. False rumors about the couple were spread in the neighborhood, their car’s tyres were slashed eight times and parts of the restaurant were vandalized.

The couple's business also suffered – customers deserted the restaurant. The couple was ignored by the Iranian community in Gothenburg; many took the side of Iranian Mehdi Seyyed, the president of Bandidos. Even relatives stopped calling. The lives of their children were threatened and on December 26th 2005 their car was set on fire.

After this incident, a new police squad took over their case, installed cameras and an alarm system. They also made a short-lived attempt to join a witness protection programme, but soon grew tired of moving round hotel rooms and apartments rented by police.

Today the Garakoeis still live in fear of the criminal gangs. They say they would consider giving up the restaurant in exchange for peace but not without getting back what they invested.

“Why should we run away and hide? Why should we just give up everything and begin with two empty hands again? We hope a Jesus will come and save us from this restaurant,” said Shahnaz to magazine Fokus.

Poland, Sweden stop cocaine smuggling ring.

Dec. 27, 2006 at 2:11PM
Police in Poland and Sweden say they intercepted 3,306 pounds of cocaine worth $100 million being shipped from Colombia to the Baltic port of Szczecin.
Zbigniew Matwiej, Polish police spokesman, told reporters in Warsaw on Wednesday that Swedish and Polish police in a joint action broke a major ring that tried to dispatch cocaine from Colombian drug cartels into Poland, Radio Polonia reported.
Matwiej said two Polish citizens and a North American holder of Mexican passport have been arrested in Szczecin.
The spokesman refused to disclose further details about the police operation, the radio said.

NBK gang in the news

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Natural+B...s/1135225091881

Police bust massive drug ring in Helsinki region
League allegedly smuggled over 20 million worth of illegal substances

28-9-07 Helsngin Sanomat

The drug crime unit of the Helsinki police reported on Thursday that they had broken up an exceptionally large criminal organisation, which had smuggled 3,000 kilos of cannabis resin and 20 kilos of cocaine into Finland in recent years.
The smuggling operation is believed to have begun in 2002. The drugs were reportedly brought into Finland 300 to 500 kg at a time in lorries from The Netherlands, hidden inside legitimate cargoes.
The transport companies were not Finnish, and police say that the drivers were in on the scheme.
The drug shipments were unloaded into smaller vans at ordinary loading areas in and around Helsinki. From there the drugs were taken to hiding places in forests in the Helsinki region and in different parts of the south of Finland.
Groups of four people on mountain bikes would wait for the van in a previously agreed upon location. They would load about 20 kilos of drugs in their backpacks and take them to their forest hiding places.

A drug dealer who wanted to buy drugs from the wholesaler would be given a map where the location of the forest stash was marked in return for the money. There were several such dropoffs in Helsinki and nearby areas.
The drugs were sold mainly in the Helsinki region and the south of Finland.
Police say that they do not believe that the existence of the organisation would have led to an increase in the number of drug users in the Helsinki area.

The main suspects are two brothers - a 31-year-old businessman and a 37-year-old musician. The older brother had been on a police wanted list for four years before he was arrested. A third suspect is a 40-year-old entrepreneur.
All three are native-born Finns from the Helsinki region. Police say that they have close ties with Central Europe and international drug dealers.
The main perpetrators had set up a number of cover companies, allowing them to move money abroad more easily. The companies were listed as doing consulting work in data processing and programme design.
During the investigation, police have confiscated EUR 310,000 in cash, in addition to 23 kilos of hashish, two kilos of cocaine, a number of cars, guns, motorcycles, as well as jewellery and watches worth more than EUR 100,000.

Police believe that the group had transported drugs worth a total of about EUR 20 million. Investigators estimate that about EUR 10 million in profits were made.
According to police, a number of women were involved, who were "mainly partners of the main perpetrators", and who were involved in the money laundering side of the operation.

Police said that it was exceptional that all of the suspects were Finns, with no apparent connections to Estonia or Russia.
According to Chief Inspector Jari Aarnio, the organisation was held together through intimidation and blackmail.

From the Finnish Underworld

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Two+Swedi...y/1135231511615

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Cash+truc...e/1135231587380

From the Swedish Underworld

http://www.thelocal.se/9046/

Smuggler sentenced to 16 years

By The Copenhagen Post
Published 20.11.07 15:00

The ringleader of a drug syndicate was given a sixteen years behind bars for his role in a hash smuggling operation

Copenhagen City Court has sentenced a man to 16 years in prison for his involvement in what is the largest drug smuggling operation in Danish history.

The court heard evidence that put the 40-year-old Claus Malmqvist at the centre of a group responsible for the smuggling of 13 tons of hashish and an attempt to bring in up to half a ton of cocaine.

The 13 tons of hashish had been brought into Denmark aboard the racing yacht 'Atlantic Privateer' in the summer of 2003.

The operation was not without fatal consequences.

Kim Simonsen, a member of the gang, was killed by another member, Lars Petersen, who was sentenced to life in prison in May for the crime.

A total of 25 people have been convicted in this case.

Tips from a peripheral source led to the connection between Petersen and Malmqvist. Police began tapping Petersen's phone in the summer of 2004 and heard the first mention of Malmqvist\s name shortly afterwards.

A subsequent arrest of two Danes in Norway for possession of half a kilo of hashish led to another clue that pointed in Malmqvist's direction.

Malmqvist was based in Brazil, but travelled to Europe and Denmark frequently.

He was put under police surveillance each time he arrived in Denmark, and after an extensive investigation the police succeeded in unravelling the operation.

He was arrested in Brazil in January 2005 and remained in one of the country's jails until he was extradited to Denmark in September 2006.

The court ruled that given the harsh conditions in Brazilian jails, the period already served by Malmqvist before being extradited would be deducted from the sentence.

Malmqvist appealed the court's ruling, which gave him the maximum sentence for drug crimes in Denmark.

'Bomb attack' at prosecutor's home

Published: 20th November 2007 11:38 CET

An explosion ripped through the door to a prosecutor's home in Trollhättan, western Sweden, on Tuesday morning. Police believe the explosion was intended as an attack on the prosecutor.

The house was empty at the time of the explosion and nobody was hurt.
"It is not a pretty sight," said Thord Haraldsson of Gothenburg Police to Göteborgs-Posten.

The noise of the explosion could be heard throughout large parts of the town.

"People heard a loud bang and soon we found ourselves outside the house," said police spokesperson Björn Blixter.

"The prosecutor works against a certain type of crime, so it is not by chance that this explosion was directed at her," said Blixter.

One case currently being worked on by the prosecutor involves a shooting in which several members the Brödraskapet Wolfpack criminal network are suspects. Last year she also indicted on assault charges a 27-year old man identified as the president of a local division of the Bandidos biker gang.

Forensic experts are now on their way from Gothenburg to begin an investigation.

Outrage at bomb attack on prosecutor

Published: 20th November 2007 15:14 CET

Justice Minister Beatrice Ask has called a bomb attack on a prosecutor's home "a serious attack on the justice sustem and the democratic society."

Ask was adding her voice to those of police and prosecutors who expressed concern after the attack. The prosecutor who was targeted had led cases against organized criminal networks.

The house, in Trollhättan, 75km north of Gothenburg, was empty when the bomb exploded just after 7am. Nobody was hurt in the explosion. Police announced on Tuesday afternoon that they were treating the case as attempted murder.

"An attack of this kind against a prosecutor is clearly exceptionally serious. It is an attack on the fundamental values of a society founded on the rule of law," said Sweden's Prosecutor General, Fredrik Wersäll, who travelled to Gothenburg on Wednesday afternoon.

"I am coming to Gothenburg partly to speak with the prosecutor in question, and partly to familiarize myself with the police's work. I will also be available to answer the kind of questions that can crop up in a situation like this," he said.

Sweden's National Police Commissioner Stefan Strömberg said in a statement that the incident represented "a serious attack on the entire justice system, and is yet another sign that system-threatening criminality is on the increase."

Beatrice Ask is to go to Gothenburg on Wednesday to meet police and prosecutors. She said her main reaction to the attack was one of anger. She said that stopping such attacks requires solid police work and solid work across the justice system, but indicated she did not think policy changes were needed.

"We've got the tools; the main thing now is to ensure that they are used effectively."

The prosecutor whose home was targeted told TV4 that she would not be making detailed comments on the incident.

"I'm fine, but I don't want to speak about the incident today. I quite simply know too little about what happened," said the prosecutor.

The front door of the house and the wall beside it were covered in soot following the explosion, the window in the door was shattered, and a small porch over the front door had collapsed.

Investigators spent Tuesday examining the house for clues, along with forensic scientists. Officers were also going from door to door in the area.

Among the cases currently being worked on by the prosecutor are a shooting in which a number of members of the Brödraskapet Wolfpack criminal network are suspects. A prosecution against the suspects is expected to be lodged this week.

The prosecutor has previously led cases against biker gang-related crime. Last year she prosecuted the 27-year-old chairman of the local branch of the Bandidos biker gang for contempt of court.

Another female prosecutor was the victim of a similar attack in May. In that case, flammable liquid was poured through her letterbox and lit. A man in his twenties was charged with arson and sentenced to six years in jail. He was later cleared on appeal.

Karin Rosander, information director at the Swedish Prosecution Authority, said attacks on prosecutors were rare.

"The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention has carried out research which shows that about ten percent of prosecutors sometimes feel threatened or have faced threats at some point. These are principally verbal threats or a feeling. But for the threats to be put into practice is very unusual," she said.

Two men wanted for bomb attack on prosecutor

Published: 21st November 2007 17:46 CET

Police have said they are searching for two men seen outside the home of a Swedish prosecutor in Trollhättan 45 minutes before a bomb ripped through her front door.

The men were spotted near prosecutor Barbro Jönsson's house at around 6.30am on Tuesday, shortly after the prosecutor had left her home. Police do not yet know whether the men are in any way connected with the crime.

"We are very interested in locating these men to find out what sort of observations they made. They were seen no more than a few metres from the building," said police spokesman Thord Haraldsson.

Justice Minister Beatrice Ask was on Wednesday calling for Sweden to tackle organized crime through a larger police presence, greater cooperation between government agencies, as well as improved information-gathering and intelligence operations.

"We can't have a couple of hundred serious criminals creating problems for our society," said Ask.

"When it comes to protecting people who work in the legal system, it is absolutely imperative that we put away those who resort to threats or violence," she added.

The front door of the prosecutor's house and the wall beside it were covered in soot following the explosion, the window in the door was shattered, and a small porch over the front door had collapsed.

Among the cases currently being worked on by Barbro Jönsson are a shooting in which a number of members of the Brödraskapet Wolfpack criminal network are suspects. A prosecution against the suspects is expected to be lodged this week.

Jönsson has previously led cases against biker gang-related crime. Last year she prosecuted the 27-year-old chairman of the local branch of the Bandidos biker gang for contempt of court.

Another female prosecutor was the victim of a similar attack in May. In that case, flammable liquid was poured through her letterbox and lit. A man in his twenties was charged with arson and sentenced to six years in jail. He was later cleared on appeal.

High security as attacked prosecutor returns to court

Published: 29th November 2007 16:16 CET

A major security operation was put in place in Gothenburg on Thursday to coincide with the trial of members of a criminal gang.

The case is being brought by prosecutor Barbro Jönsson, who had the door of her home in Trollhättan blown up on Tuesday last week.

Police would not comment on whether the attack on the prosecutor had any bearing on the decision to move the trial from Vänersborg District Court to a secure courtroom in Gothenburg.

Barbro Jönsson has over the years prosecuted a number of high profile cases involving criminal network.

In the case being tried on Thursday, six people with ties to Brödraskapet Wolfpack (The Wolfback Brotherhood) - are suspected of an attack on an apartment in Lilla Edet, a small community 50 kilometres north of Gothenburg.

A number of shots were fired at the door of the apartment, which was occupied by a couple and their 3-year-old child.

Jönsson appeared calm and relaxed as she outlined the case against against the six accused. She said she would be calling for four of those on trial to be convicted of attempted murder.

"It is clear that those shooting were indifferent to the consequences of the shots. If people had been in the hall at the time of the shooting their lives would have been in great danger," she said.

The man who was in the apartment at the time told the court that he "did not at first realize that guns were being used. There was a bang and then it appeared as though someone was trying to drive through the door with a car," he said. When his wife ran past the door to reach their 3-year-old son she noticed that the attackers were firing live bullets.

"She screamed, in pain and fear. And I screamed too," he told the court. All the accused deny committing any crime.

Police Uncover Nationwide Amphetamine Ring

17.12.2007

Police investigators say that they have uncovered an exceptionally extensive illegal drug ring operated by a Finnish-Estonian criminal network. Activities by the ring are said to have been highly organized and have extended throughout almost all of the country.

Police carried out raids on residences throughout the autumn and their investigation is reported to be nearly complete. According to information received by YLE, illegal drugs have been recovered from Hango on the south coast to Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland.

The Finnish-Estonian criminal network has been highly organized and operated its business through the Bandidos motorcycle gang.

The gang has moved millions of euros worth of amphetamines.

More users than thought

The extent of the operation and the volume of drugs involved indicate that there are more users in Finland than previously believed.

The street value of a gram of the illegal amphetamines is around 25 euros. One gram provides five doses.

The case is connected with charges recently brought against Finnish hockey star Jere Karalahti.

Preliminary investigations were carried out by a joint Finnish-Estonian police task force that included police from Espoo and Lohja, Finland's National Bureau of Investigation and the Estonian Central Criminal Police.

Police officials are to issue details of the investigation on Wednesday.

Major Drug Trade Investigation Continues

Published 19.12.2007, 19.13

Police are nearing completion of the preliminary investigation of a major case of the import and distribution of large quantities of amphetamines.

Police suspect a Finnish-Estonian drug ring of smuggling more than 200 kilograms of amphetamines with a street value of up to 4 million euros into the country during the past two years. During the present investigation 23.5 kilograms were seized and 7 more kilograms of the drug were found in earlier related cases.

The ring includes both Finns and Estonians. During the course of the investigation, 31 people have been held by police. Fourteen are still in custody and five more have been prohibited from leaving the country. A further two have been charged in absentia and one is being sought by police.

The drugs were brought into Finland by an Estonian criminal group. Once in the country, the drugs were hidden in buried caches. Finnish buyers were given directions to the caches from which they recovered the drugs for sale onwards.

The investigation has also uncovered crimes of violence and crimes against property. In addition to amphetamines, police have also seized numerous weapons.

Denmark arrests 13 in gangland crackdown: police

18 January 2008 | 03:26 | FOCUS News Agency

COPENHAGEN. Danish police on Thursday arrested 13 members of rival gangs wanted for drug trafficking, seizing arms and large amounts of cash, police said.
"More than 100 police officers took part in the operation following an investigation into a violent shooting in December between two groups involved in drug trafficking," Bent Isager-Nielsen, police inspector at Albertslund west of Copenhagen, told AFP.
Those detained -- 12 men and a woman aged between 19 and 32, are of Iraqi, Lebanese, Moroccan, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish origin but have Danish citizenship.
They were charged with attempted murder and violating Denmark's legislation on the use of firearms.
In a massive shootout on December 11, "at least 88 bullets were fired from nine different weapons" between the two gangs in the Taastrup neighbourhood, 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of the Danish capital, but no one was hurt, said Isager-Nielsen.
On Thursday police seized firearms, bullet-proof vests and millions of kroners (hundreds of thousands of euros/dollars), he said. Gang members had been fighting over the control of the cocaine market.
More arrests could be made in the next few days, police said.

Men arrested over spectacular Gothenburg robbery

Published: 22 Jan 08 19:58 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/9740/

Three men have been arrested after a spectacular robbery of Gothenburg's main postal depot, which left much of Sweden's second city sealed off on Tuesday morning.

The three men, born 1967, 1976 and 1983 are suspected of being accessories to robbery, according to Sven Ahlbin of Gothenburg Police. He would not reveal where the men were arrested or give any other details of the arrests.

During the raid the robbers forced the eleven staff at the post office staff to lie on the floor. They then made away with their loot. Five devices that appeared to be bombs were placed in the area in an apparent attempt to hinder the police operation.

"There is no indication that there were actually any explosives in the boxes," said Ahlbin on Tuesday evening.

The robbers also set fire to five cars in the area. They fled in a Jeep, which was later found burned out not far from the scene of the robbery. They had spread caltrops - metal 'crows' feet' designed to puncture car tyres - on roads around the terminal. Nobody was physically injured in the robbery.

Klas Friberg of Gothenburg Police said that at least ten people are likely to have been involved in the robbery.

"This robbery was on a bigger scale than any I have seen before."

Per Ljungberg Per Ljungberg, a spokesman for the Swedish postal service, said the Gothenburg post terminal was the largest in the region and handled about two million letters a day.

"We're a bit surprised by the robbery. There are obviously some valuable packages that pass through, but it's a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack," he told AFP. He added that many of the depot's staff were "in shock. The terminal handles about 2 million letters and packages per day.

Fast facts: big robberies in Sweden

Sweden has been the scene of a number of spectacular robberies in recent years. Cash transport vehicles have been particular targets.

- The country has seen more violent robberies of cash transport vehicles, per head of population, than most other European countries. In 2005, only the UK, Ireland and Malta saw more.

-Unions credit recent changes with a fall in the number of robberies on delivery vehicles in 2007. These changes have included requiring escorts for many deliveries, requirements for more experienced and older staff to run deliveries and greater police monitoring.

Some of the biggest robberies:

Akalla, Stockholm, August 2005: Robbers ram a truck through the gates of a Securitas cash depot, then threaten staff with automatic weapons before making away with 26 million kronor.

Hallunda, Stockholm, August 2005: A spectacular raid on a cash depot is described as having been carried out with "military precision". The raid was coordinated from a control centre, with around ten burning cars and fake bombs spread around the area to delay the police operation.

Stora Höga, Gothenburg, November 2005: Two robbers ram a Securitas cash transport vehicle off the road and blow it up, making away with 5.6 million kronor. Two guards are hurt by glass splinters.

Landvetter Airport, Gothenburg, March 2006: Men armed with automatic weapons threaten staff on a plane from London, leave a false bomb and flee with foreign currency worth nearly 8 million kronor.

Arlanda Airport, Stockholm, July 2006: A secure cash transport vehicle is stopped on the way out of the airport by men with automatic weapons. The robbers blow up the vehicle and make away with several million kronor. Around 19 million kronor in bank notes is found around the wreck of the vehicle.

According to media, one of the arrested persons is a member of Wolfpack Brotherhood (Brödraskapet Wolfpack), one of the most notorious and violent gangs in Sweden.

The Danish police has released a rapport about gangs in Denmark. Read it here at the end of the page, but in Danish: http://www.politi.dk/da/aktuelt/nyheder/ba...brev_25.01.2008

Here is a map from the newspaper Jyllandsposten about gangs in Denmark. In each box is the name of the gang, or what the police call them. Number of members. Number of cases against members/number of sentences.

Gangs expanding in Denmark

By The Copenhagen Post
Published 01.02.08 00:00

Gangs are flourishing across the country, according to police

For the first time ever, police have put together a list of the country’s most criminal organisations. The report, which currently consists of 14 gangs and 141 individuals, will be updated and published annually.

Throughout 2007, there were 39 convictions for serious crimes committed by the groups, including illegally possessing weapons, narcotics infringements and violent crimes.

The groups and networks have access to weapons and explosives and, according to the report, are capable of using both in the fight for dominance on the drug scene and internal honour disputes.

The biggest of the gangs, Black Cobra, with its 50 members, had allegiances with the Bandidos gang, one of the two largest biker gangs in Denmark.

Black Cobra had members in the towns of Roskilde, Hundige, Kalundborg, Næstved and Vordingborg. The majority of their members were from ethnic minorities.

The report fond that the group’s activities were increasing and that it had plans to expand to Jutland and Sweden.

Another gang, the International Club, based in Esbjerg in western Jutland, was striving toward more co-operation with the Black Cobra group. The two groups resembled each other in structure and members of both groups wore their affiliations openly.

Police expected that there would be increased pressure on the Hell’s Angels group especially on the drug scene. The Hell's Angels have already been pushed out of three towns in Jutland, and their drug dealing activities taken over by the International Group.

One of the conclusions of the report was that the future held increased activities from these groups.

Fact fileSome of the most criminal gangs in Denmark

Amagergruppen (The Amager Group)Known for drug-dealing, weapon possession offences, violent crimes in the Copenhagen area.

Black Cobra Based in Roskilde and Hundige, but also has members in Kalundborg, Næstved and Vordingborg. Strong affiliations with the International Club and the Bandidos biker group. The group plans to expand in Jutland and Sweden. The group is in conflict with the Borhan Group.

Blågårds Plads Group (Blågårds Plads-gruppen)They hold a central role in the crime scene in Copenhagen - including hashish clubs. Have been involved in shooting and knife episodes. They are in contact with the Bandidos and are rivals with the Hell’s Angels.

Borhan Group (Borhangruppen)In 2007, the Borhan Group was involved in several shooting episodes and is in conflict with the Black Cobra group. They are based in Hundige. The police suspect them of money laundering through businesses on the internet.

Enghave Boys (Enghavedrengene)Based in Vesterbro and the leading members are of Pakistani origin. Supplies hashish to several hashish clubs.

The International Club (Den Internationale Klub)Moved most of its activities from Aalborg to Esbjerg and has close ties to the Bandidos group and are in conflict with the Hell’s Angels. Police predict that they will try to strengthen ties with the Black Cobra group.

Haderslev Group (Haderslevgruppen)Have gone from 15 members to two. Police are uncertain why..

Odense Group (Odensegruppen)Connected to Vollsmose Estate and is assumed to be centrally placed in the crime scene on the island of Funen.

Østerbro Group (Østerbrogruppen)Run many hashish clubs in Copenhagen and involved in organised theft.

Others About ten other people who are loosely affiliated with the above groups. Some of them are connected to the hashish trade in Christiania.

«Young Immigrants Largest Threat to Society»

By Filip van Laenen
Created 2008-03-15 17:31

The children of immigrants are the largest threat to Danish society, says Torsten Hesselbjerg, head of the Danish police, in an interview with the morning newspaper Jyllands-Posten . They are responsible for the heaviest forms of crime, drugs dealing, but for them, honor, prestige and power are parts of the game too.

Torsten Hesselbjerg has been the head of the Danish police since 2000, as the so-called rigspolitichef. In an interview with the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten Saturday morning he says that a list of 141 names forms the largest challenge for the Danish police right now, but young migrants worry him the most as he sees them as the largest threat to order and rest in society.

These young migrants commit all sorts of heavy crime, but focus particularly on drugs. However, for these people, concepts like honor, prestige and power are part of the game too. Right now, Danish police tracks fourteen criminal organizations with a total of 141 members at «level 1», a term the Danish police uses for the most influential and active criminals in the underworld of organized crime. According to a police report, these criminals have access to weapons and explosives, and are prepared to use both of them in their struggle to keep control over the drugs market and to maintain their own version of honor.

Torsten Hesselbjerg points out that the Copenhagen district of Nørrebro and the area West of the Danish capital (known as Københavns Vestegn) were hit particularly hard at the end of 2007 and in the beginning of 2008 by shootings and unrest amongst migrants, but no persons at «level 1» were involved in these incidents. Both Nørrebro and Københavns Vestegn are housing large groups of migrants.

Not only young migrants but also organizations like the Hells Angels and Bandidos participate in organized crime, but at the same time, these groups have come more and more under pressure from young migrants. This is one of the reasons why the Hells Angels recently have started a new group, A81, recruiting mostly among younger people.

Finally, Torsten Hesselbjerg thinks that the largest challenge for the Danish police next week will be to prevent young migrants from setting fire to the streets in Denmark again during the Easter school holidays, just like they did during the last school holiday in February.

Tough Sentences in Major Drug Case

Published 19.03.2008, 09.07 (updated 19.03.2008, 18.34)

Helsinki District Court has handed down stiff sentences in Finland's largest-ever drugs case.

Two brothers from Helsinki were sentenced to 13 years each in prison. The third major figure in the drugs ring received an 11-year sentence.

The organisation led by the three men smuggled drugs into Finland from the Netherlands for many years. The illicit substances were brought in on lorries and hidden in underground caches. Police detained the trio after finding one of these caches last spring.

The court found that the threesome imported nearly 2500 kilos of hashish since 2002 as well as an unspecified number of kilos of cocaine. They also seized some 600,000 euros in cash.

The judges said that the severe sentences were justified as the drug loads brought in were exceptionally large and the operation highly organised.

The court also sentenced 11 other accomplices in the drug business to several years behind bars each. It also ordered the ringleaders to pay the state more than seven million euros to make up for their ill-gotten gains.

Maximum sentences in major drugs case
Dent in drug market short-lived

20-3-08 Helsingin Sanomat

Helsinki District Court handed down sentences of 13 years imprisonment to two brothers in a criminal case involving the smuggling of thousands of kilos of illegal drugs. The sentence is the maximum punishment for drug crimes in Finland.

A total of 14 of the 22 defendants were given non-suspended prison sentences. Three were acquitted.

The maximum sentences were given to 32-year-old Timo Tapio Hartikainen and 37-year-old Algot Niska, formerly Ari Antero Hartikainen.

Kimmo Juhana Taina, age 40, was sentenced to 11 years. His cooperation with the authorities during the investigation was seen as a mitigating factor, resulting in a slightly lower jail term.

The maximum sentence for a single count of an aggravated drug crime is ten years in prison. Up to three more years can be given if there is more than one count involved.

The court found that the organisation had imported well over two tonnes of hashish (cannabis resin) and well over ten kilos of cocaine. The prosecution estimated that there had been more cannabis, but was not able to prove it in court.

Most of the drugs were imported from The Netherlands between 2002 and 2007. Some of the hashish was transported by lorry in consignments of up to hundreds of kilos.

The drugs were delivered mainly through hideaways in forests around the Helsinki region. Cash was also found in the forest stashes.

Members of the organisation were also ordered to forfeit more than EUR 7 million in profit from their activities.

Police estimate that the drug organisation whose members were convicted and sentenced on Wednesday controlled up to a quarter of the hashish market in the Helsinki region at one time.

Juha Piippo of the Helsinki drug police says that when the arrests were made in May, it led to a shortage of cannabis illegal drug market in the region. However, the market has since recovered.

Piippo noted that no matter how big a gang is taken out of the game, sooner or later there will be new entrepreneurs, and the supply of drugs returns to what it was before.

Two kilos of cocaine were also confiscated in connection with the case. "Since then, there have hardly been any seizures of cocaine", Piippo says.

The police do not know how much of the cocaine market in the Helsinki region the league had under its control. Police say that cocaine has become a more everyday drug of choice in Finland, and is no longer restricted to small circles.

Armed Men Steal $6.3 Million In Daring Danish Heist

April 2, 2008 6:27 p.m. EST

Copenhagen, Denmark (AHN) - Armed men in masks stole an estimated $6.3 million USD (30 million DKK) in what authorities say is the second largest bank heist in Danish history. Police say six robbers forcibly entered a cash depot in Glostrup, a suburban area in Copenhagen, using a forklift to smash through the building's wall.

According to the International Herald Tribune, the robbers were armed with assault rifles and submachine guns. A number of the depot's employees were in the building when the incident took place, but no one was injured.

Police spokesman Bent Isager-Nielsen said that the robbers left the area using several getaway cars, adding that the criminals spread metal spikes on the roads to evade pursuing police cars. Isager-Nielsen said noted that four police cars responding to the crime scene got flat tires.

CNN said that the robbers left about 2 kilograms (4.5 pounds) of plastic explosives at the depot, as a distraction for police. Officers chased after the robbers, but some were forced to stay behind and cordon off the area in the event of any explosion. Authorities could not immediately ascertain however, if the explosives were meant to explode.

Authorities likened the depot robbery to recent hold-ups in Sweden. Isager-Nielsen said that the police are now coordinating with Swedish authorities as part of the investigation on the incident.

The largest heist in Denmark took place in 2000, when a cash transport was robbed of an estimated 41 million kroner.

Danish police say 8.3 million stolen in cash depot robbery

AP 2008-04-03

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - The robbers who broke into a cash depot in suburban Copenhagen earlier this week got away with 62 million kroner (¤8.3 million; US$6.3 million), police said Thursday.

Investigators initially said the masked gunmen stole about half that amount in Tuesday's heist, but have now revised the figure, making it Denmark's biggest
robbery ever.

Wearing masks and wielding rifles and submachine guns, a group of up to six men crashed a forklift through the wall of the cash depot early Tuesday, police said.
They sped off in several getaway cars with Polish license plates, leaving metal spikes on nearby roads to avoid pursuit.

Police also found a bag with 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of plastic explosives on the scene, which investigators believe was intended to be used in case the forklift failed to break through the concrete wall. No one was injured during the robbery.

Investigators said they had contacted their Swedish counterparts because the heist bore similarities to recent holdups in the neighboring country. No one has been arrested.

Here is some info About Norwegian OC.. or gangs...sorry for my bad english.


The Nokas Gang.. (the name of the gang is from the last robbery they did, before this they had no name, a group of intelligent friends specialiced in robberys, heist ETC.. some leftovers from tveita-gjengen who where a gang in the 80`s specialized in stealing cars.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NOKAS_robbery

The robbery also featured members from the gothenburg based albanian mafia.






this robbery was done "heat style"(from the movie heat with al pacino and robert de niro) and resulted in a machine gun fight in the town centre of stavanger. 1 police officer got killed and 1 robber wounded.

this resulted in the biggest chase and court case in norway ever... the leader and brain behind the gang, David Toska http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Toska was captured 5th april 2005 exactly 1 year after the robbery.

one swede/albanian is still on the run..

here is collector page from the biggest newspaper in norway: http://www.vg.no/nyheter/innenriks/nokas/


that marked the end of that crew.

when the police searched for the robbers, norway most famous painting “scream” by Edvarth Munch was stolen from the Munch museum in oslo… apparently to keep the attention away. This painting was recovered after negotiating with David Toska when he was on trial. The men who stole the painting on Toskas orders were also caught.

Here is some other gangs:

B-Gjengen(the B-gang): A gang with members from Pakistani comminity. It is known to have its activities in drugs, torpedo activities and murder. Been under the searclight from the government the last years and almost all of the leaders are doing time or are on the run in Pakistan. The gangs nemesis is A-Gjengen.


A- Gjengen(the A gang): Also members from the pakistani community and rivals to B-gjengen. Does the same activities, and have been in many “wars” with B-Gjengen. Most of it leaders also in jail. Also the gang young guns are closely related to A-gjengen. Its member Arfan Q. Bhatti was prisoned to 8 years “forvaring”(in norway that means the government decides when you are going to be releases every 8 year), after terrorist charges.


The Biker gangs are also active in Norway like they are in Sweden and Denmark.

the Albanian mafia and russian mafia are alos represented especially in the drug business but info is almost none on these groups here.

Police to use 'mafia' law in cannabis cases
Last winter saw a wave of raids on cannabis plantations in Norway, and now those charged are facing their day in court. Two Swedes and a Dutch defendant are linked to two of the largest plantations, and they're charged under Norway's so-called "mafia" law designed to fight organized crime
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2565165.ece



'Mafia' law behind biggest insider trading case ever
Close family members are among those charged in what's shaping up to be Norway's largest case of alleged insider trading. The family ties have spurred prosecutors to use the country's so-called "mafia paragraph," on the grounds the offenses amount to organized crime
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/business...icle2488018.ece



Also one Lithuanian citizen murdered and 2 survivors, from what is believed to be a struggle inside the russian mafia in oslo... i`ll post the link once its covred in the news in english section..

Denmark’s largest hash case cracked
A group has distributed 17 tonnes of cannabis to both Copenhagen and Jutland, according to the police who have got hold of the gang’s account

A criminal organisation has imported as much as 17 tons of cannabis from Spain and the Netherlands into Denmark, police say.

The turnover was enormous, and a German woman has been charged with transporting DKK 53 million to the gang’s contacts abroad.

The affair has been secretly investigated by the Copenhagen Police since the beginning of the year and a total of nine people have been arrested so far.

In prison since May
Both the 46-year old woman, who worked as money courier, and a man, aged 41 and presumed to be the drug baron, have been in custody since May, according to Police Superintendant Steffen Th. Steffensen.

At the time of her arrest, the woman was leaving Denmark with DKK 1.7 million.

Largest hash case so far
One of the arrested men, a suspected principle figure, was caught south of Køge and police have found a comprehensive set of accounts that form the basis of the charge. The many transports are believed to have taken place over the past 18 months. Another principle suspect was also arrested near Køge.

If the amount of 17 tons of cannabis is correct, it is the largest hash case ever in Denmark.

The cannabis was sold from different places in Copenhagen, including in Christiania. There were also customers in Holstebro, Esbjerg, Horsens and Århus, and arrests have also been made in these cities, says Steffensen.

Smuggling with trucks
In a few cases sentences have already been passed regarding the receipt of 600 and 800 kilos of cannabis. During one of the raids in Jutland, the police officers also found a machine gun.

The police believe the cannabis was smuggled into the country in cars and trucks.

But the investigation is far from over as the Copenhagen Drugs Squad suspects that a Danish man, who is already wanted in connection with another crime, has played a central role.

Well-known to the police
In the biggest case so far involving the smuggling of 13 tons of cannabis on board the ship “Atlantic Privateer”, Claus Malmqvist, 41, was sentenced to 16 years in prison last year.

Police believe that the man they are looking for handled about three tons of the ship’s cannabis cargo and that he worked with Malmqvist and the latter’s partner Lars Petersen, who is serving time for hash smuggling as well as killing of another accomplice.

The drugs squad apparently think he is continuing his highly profitable cannabis business from his hideout and with new partners.

Jan 7, 2009

Shooting in Denmark
2 S'poreans shot

TWO men, said to be Singaporeans, were gunned down at a restaurant in Copenhagen on Monday evening, according to Danish media reports.

Eyewitnesses said a man walked into Restaurant Bali on Kongens Nytorv Square at about 7 pm and shot the two men at point blank. The assailant then fled, reported the Copenhagen Post. All three are Chinese.

One of the victims, identified as Roland Tan, 61, and believed to be the restaurant owner, was hit in the shoulder, while the other unnamed Singaporean, aged 55, was shot in the chest and remains in critical condition at Rigshospitalet, but is out of danger.

The Ekstra Bladet newspaper said he is "still being kept in artificial coma because he has lost large amounts of blood."

It also describes Mr Tan as "the most powerful Chinese businessman in Denmark."

Danish police believe the shooting was an assassination attempt on Mr Tan, who is said to have criminal connections although he has not been convicted of any offences in Denmark.

But Ekstra Bladet said Mr Tan has been questioned in connection with a number of serious crimes, including drug dealing, blackmail and murder.

Danish police have been posted to guard the two victims in hospital, allowing only relatives to visit them.

The suspect is still at large. Danish police are still questioning several witnesses.

‘Mr Big’ the target
‘Powerful businessman’ and friend were about to celebrate birthday; gunman on the run

Ansley Ng 8-1-09
ansley@mediacorp.com.sg

HE WAS said to be the “go to” man for a loan, if you were of Chinese descent and wanted to do business in Denmark.

A former Singaporean, Copenhagen restaurant owner Roland Tan left for Denmark some time in the late ’60s or early ’70s to start a new life. There, he found new friends, including — the Danish media claimed — members of the criminal underworld.

His prominence in the triads gave him the nickname “Mr Big”, according to the Danish press, which also claimed that Mr Tan was wanted by the Singapore police and Interpol for murder and drug-related activities. None of this could be verified by either agency as of press time.

On Monday night (early Tuesday, Singapore time), Mr Tan, 61, was chatting in his Restaurant Bali with his 53-year-old Singaporean friend when an intruder barged into the empty joint and started to argue with him.

According to some reports, the dispute was over a gambling debt. The disgruntled man, whom Danish police identified as convicted heroin peddler Nguyen Phi Hung, 47, then fired four rounds at the men.

Mr Tan was hit in the shoulder and is recovering at the Copenhagen University Hospital, while his unidentified friend — who arrived only two days prior to the attack — was shot in the stomach and is in critical condition.

According to Inspector Ove Dahl, who heads Copenhagen’s homicide team, both men were standing at the restaurant bar at about 7pm when the suspect walked in. The restaurant was closed for a private birthday party which both men were due to attend hours later, he told Today.

The suspected gunman is on the run, as of press time.

Calling Mr Tan the “most powerful Chinese businessman in Denmark”, the Danish media quickly latched on to his alleged mob connections.

According to the Ekstra Bladet, Mr Tan’s Restaurant Bali, which serves Chinese and Indonesian food in a tourist area, was popular with underworld figures. The paper also claimed that soon after he was wheeled into hospital, “about 40 representatives of the criminal underworld” turned up at the lobby.

But Inspector Dahl rubbished the claims of Mr Tan’s mob links. “It’s not true,” he said, when asked by Today if he knew the reason for the shooting.

“As far as we know, the motive is personal,” he said.

Inspector Dahl said he and his team of 20 officers have interviewed restaurant staff and Mr Tan, who will be discharged soon.

During the shooting, 10 staff members, including waiters and cooks, were present, said Inspector Dahl. There was no answer when Today called the restaurant.

Inspector Dahl added that the authorities were in touch with their Singaporean counterparts to track down the next-of-kin of Mr Tan’s as-yet-unnamed guest. But he declined to comment when asked if Danish police would hand Mr Tan over, if the Singapore police wanted him back.

S’porean’s family being assisted

News of the sensational shooting has gotten some Singaporeans excited.

One anonymous MediaCorp hotline caller, who purported to know Mr Tan and his friend, claimed that Mr Tan was known as “lao zhek” (old uncle) in Singapore and runs a moneylending business as well as gambling dens in Denmark.

In a statement yesterday evening, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that one Singaporean was injured in the shooting incident and the family was being rendered consular assistance.

Mr Jason Heppenstall, an editor at the Copenhagen Post whose office is across the tourist square from the crime scene, said he was first alerted by the sirens of police cars and ambulances.

Gun crimes in Denmark are rare because of strict firearms licensing rules, he added.

“We do have gun crimes sometimes but the past few incidents involved members of the Hell’s Angels (a motorcycle gang),” said Mr Heppenstall. “Otherwise, it’s not very common.”

But Inspector Dahl said guns were available on the black market, brought in from other European countries.
‘Powerful businessman’ and friend were about to celebrate birthday; gunman on the run

Ansley Ng

Delroy Showers jailed in Denmark for his part in £1m amphetamine smuggling operation

Mar 7 2009 by Richard Down, Liverpool Echo

A FORMER Toxteth man has been sent down for 14 years for his role in smuggling £1.19m of amphetamines into Denmark .

Delroy Whitfield Showers, 58, was sentenced alongside three Danish men to a total of 46 years for the crime.

The Liverpool raised man has already served time in Denmark for drug smuggling.

This time he was extradited from Holland to Denmark in August for his role in providing 40kg of the drug two years ago.

Police estimate the drugs had a street value of £1.19m.

Showers regularly met his co-defendants in various European cities, including Hamburg, Amsterdam and Barcelona.

The four were arrested last year after a tip from a 26-year-old man who had already been convicted in connection with the case.

According to the prosecutor, the drugs were paid for in cash and with stolen vehicles. One of Showers’ co-accused, Martin Jacobs, admitted during a 13-day trial that he had made a deal to import the drugs to Denmark, but has since appealed his nine-year sentence.

Showers has a catalogue of previous offences that has already seen him serve time in prisons on the continent.

He also hit the headlines back in 1995 after pulling off a dramatic Christmas Day escape from prison.

He went on the run from a jail 150 miles from Copenhagen, capital of Denmark, after a jogging session.

At that point he was serving time for another drug smuggling operation between Holland and Denmark.

By 1999 Showers’ older brother Michael was also serving 20 years for his part in a drugs bust in Britain which involved around 12kg of heroin.

The siblings are the sons of a merchant seaman who claimed to be a tribal chief.

Michael, the older brother by six years, is described as athletic and articulate with an interest in chess and classical music.

Showers’ elder sibling, who is famed for his white Rolls-Royce, had started out at the city council with the Merseyside Immigration Advice Unit.

But by 1990, the man who had campaigned so loudly to keep drugs out of Toxteth was masterminding a plot to flood the streets with heroin.

Now his younger brother is serving his second sentence in a foreign jail.


Brit jailed for huge Jutland drugs haul

Friday, 06 March 2009

A 58-year-old British man received a 14-year sentence for his role in importing 40 kilos of drugs into Jutland two years ago

British man, Delroy Whitfield Showers, 58, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in the smuggling of 40 kilos of amphetamines from the Netherlands to Denmark.

A court in Randers, eastern Jutland, sentenced Showers and three other Danish men to a total of 46 years for the crime. Showers, with an address in the Netherlands, appealed his sentence to the High Court.

The Brit was extradited from the Netherlands to Denmark last August for his role in providing the drugs, which police estimated had a street value of 10 million kroner.
The court agreed with evidence which showed Showers had regular contact with the other three men in the autumn of 2007 and had met them in various European cities, including Hamburg, Amsterdam and Barcelona.

One of the accused, Martin Jacobs, admitted during the 13-day trial that he had made a deal to import the drugs to Denmark, but has since appealed his nine-year sentence.

The four were arrested last year after a tip from a 26-year-old man who had already been convicted in connection with the case. According to the prosecutor, the drugs were paid for in cash and with stolen vehicles.

Showers has long been linked to the drug environment in his native Liverpool. His older brother Michael was sentenced to 20 years back in 2000 for his part in a drugs bust involving 12 kilos of heroin.

According to public broadcaster DR, Delroy Showers had previously been convicted for drug smuggling in Britain and received an eight-year sentence from the Brøndby court in 1994.

Swelling criminal gangs send shivers through Sweden

12-3-09

STOCKHOLM (AFP) — Prosecutor Barbro Joensson was driving to work when a bomb exploded at the front door of her house, rocking her whole neighbourhood and sending shockwaves through traditionally serene Sweden.

"It is very hard to describe how I felt when I heard what happened. I think I still haven't grasped how serious it was," Joensson, 53, told AFP more than a year after the attack.

She was prosecuting a high-profile case against a violent criminal gang called the Wolfpack Brotherhood and had just left her home in the southwestern town of Trollhaettan on November 20, 2007, when the blast ripped off the front door and shattered the hallway.

Two young gang members were remanded in custody just over a month ago on suspicion they planted the bomb, which could have killed Joensson had she been at home.

The bombing -- one of the first overt attacks on a Swedish prosecutor -- prompted calls to root out the swelling criminal gangs that have smashed the Scandinavian country's tranquil image.

The gangs have caused a spike in a number of crimes, including extortion and loan-sharking -- a gang specialty -- which have jumped from 740 cases reported in 2003 to 1,715 last year, according to preliminary statistics from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.

Police say it is difficult to estimate the number and size of criminal gangs in Sweden since membership can vary from day to day, but media reports indicate around 1,000 people are actively involved in at least six large criminal gangs with numerous branches across the country.

Gangs make headlines almost daily with stories of drug busts, brutal attacks on business owners unable to pay off debts and bloody gang wars.

"This is a serious problem that has grown in recent years," Swedish Justice Minister Beatrice Ask told AFP.

"We used to be fairly sheltered in the Nordic countries, but unfortunately this problem has surfaced and we must react very forcefully now or else this could be extremely serious in say 10 years," she cautioned.

Police also think that attacks like the one on Joensson constitute a novel and dangerous twist in Swedish gang activity.

"Attacks on the judiciary are a rather new and very serious phenomenon," said Klas Friberg, the police chief in the Vaestra Goetaland region that comprises Trollhaettan and Gothenburg.

Joensson, who moved after the attack on her home and joined a police unit in Gothenburg working to fight gang crime, agreed.

"We risk having judges who don't dare to judge, prosecutors who are afraid to prosecute and police who refrain from making arrests," she said, adding that "if that happens the first bastion against these groups will fall."

Just four months after the Trollhaettan bombing, shots were fired at the home of another prosecutor in the region, Mats Mattsson, who had worked extensively on cases involving criminal motorcycle gangs like Bandidos.

While no one was hurt in that attack either, it prompted more calls for action and sent the government and police scurrying to come up with new measures to combat the scourge.

Special police and intelligence units were created along with a "Knowledge Centre" on gang activity as part of a national strategy aimed at cracking down on gangs and blocking recruitment of new members.

"Local police have to be on their case all the time, making it uncomfortable for anyone who has not yet been fully recruited to hang around these people," said Justice's Ask.

Despite heightened police efforts, around 10 new clubhouses belonging to gangs like Hells Angels, Bandidos, Wolfpack Brotherhood and Original Gangsters reportedly sprouted up across Sweden last year alone.

The highest concentration of gang units is centred around the southern towns of Malmoe and Gothenburg, largely due to their proximity to Denmark, where the gangs also constitute a major problem.

"A few years ago, Denmark carried out very forceful measures against these gangs and a number of these people moved over to Sweden. Now, we hope they will move back, or rather further," Ask said.

Erik Lannerbaeck, a former member of several gangs including the Wolfpack Brotherhood and Bandidos, meanwhile told AFP that simply cracking down on the gangs would accomplish little.

"The main focus should be on getting members to leave the gangs, and to do that you can't just lock people up and hope they'll be better when they get out," said Lannerbaeck, who after a decade in criminal gangs began working as a counselor for troubled youths in Stockholm in 2004.

Gang members trying to get out often need protection and help paying off debts and finding a job, but most of all "they need support from people who understand them and can help them see the value in being normal, and to create a new identity," he insisted.

Lannerbaeck said he himself repeatedly tried to leave his life of crime only to be drawn back in by the promise of wads of cash or the desire to once again be feared and respected instead of stepped upon in a menial job.

"It was like a drug," he said, adding that landing a good job where he was appreciated was what made it possible to get out for good.

"It is very important that people can leave," Ask agreed, adding that a project to help people get out of the gangs would likely be funded soon.

"Huge efforts are needed and we need a lot of people to push in the same direction, but I think we can bring this problem under control," she said.

"If I didn't think (so), I wouldn't be working in this field."

The underworld wars that rage through several boroughs in Copenhagen were featured in Dutch newspaper Trouw this week. Peter, do you think they shouldve allowed the Christiana drugs market to continue its business?

I have the same opinion as a lot of people in DK. Christiania should stay, if they get rid of the organised crime which take place there. Since the beginning of Christiania people have been dealing drugs, and people have been killed in Christiania because of the drugs. So it didn't matter that the police closed it down, you can still get drugs there, and now many other place in the city. There is a LOT of hipocrosy involved in the whole Christiania-drug dealing thing.

Unusually Heavy Sentences for Drug Ringleaders

Fri 04:36 PM, updated Fri 07:05 PM

Espoo District Court has handed down tough sentences to the Estonian leaders of a drug ring.

The five Estonians all face 13-year prison sentences. Three were also fined hundreds of thousands of euros.

Altogether 24 people were charged in the case, including one Spanish citizen, but most got off with fines.

The gang brought hundreds of kilos of illegal drugs into Finland in 2007 and 2008, including 300 kilos of hash, more than 100 kilos of amphetamines, thousands of Subutex tablets and some cocaine.

The drugs were buried in underground caches in the Helsinki and Tampere areas. Police estimate the street value of the substances at more than six million euros.

the last robber fron the NOKAS robbery and member of the swedish/albaninan Naserligaen arrested in Norway after 5 years on the run yesterday.

Jusuf Hani:

Gang leader jailed for four weeks

10. sep. 2009 14.24 English

In a preliminary hearing, an Odense (city in Denmark) gang leader has been remanded in custody for four weeks.

He is charged with demanding monthly protection payments of DKK 3,000. Police also thinks that he has collected arbitrary fines.

The 39-year old man is considered a leading member of the Black Ghost gang, and is charged with selling 205 kilograms of hashis since 2003. The sales allegedly took place from a homeless shelter and a warming centre.

No comments
In a preliminary hearing held Thursday morning, he refrained from making a statement, and would not comment on the charges, which include making threats.

Another three men from substance abusing circles are also arrested in the case, and according to police, these three acted as accomplices. The men are 53, 39, and 36 years old. They are charged with selling 67, 20, and 26 kilograms of hashis respectively.

The alleged ringleader lives in Vollsmose. Police thinks the Black Ghost gang was established by people with immigrant backgrounds, and who are in a confrontation with Hell's Angels and AK 81.

Page last updated at 10:52 GMT, Wednesday, 23 September 2009 11:52 UK

Helicopter used in Sweden robbery

Video: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8270619.stm

The helicopter used in the raid, found in woods north of Stockholm

Swedish police are hunting for robbers who used a stolen helicopter to raid a cash depot in the capital, Stockholm.

The thieves lowered themselves onto the roof before smashing their way in early on Wednesday, police said.

Loud explosions were heard before the men were seen stashing what were believed to be bags full of cash into the helicopter.

A suspicious bag placed at the police heliport prevented officers from using their helicopters to chase the gang.

It is not yet clear how much money was stolen.

An abandoned helicopter believed to be the one used in the raid was found by police later in a forest north of Stockholm.