Sweden, Norway to cooperate on combating gang crime

Stockholm, Sep 7 : Swedish and Norwegian police will build a police station on the two countries border to strengthen cooperation and prevent Swedish criminal gangs from expanding their activities into Norway, the two countries police chiefs said.

"Serious organised crime operates across the border and it is, therefore, important to strengthen our long-term cooperation," Swedens National Police Commissioner Anders Thornberg said in a press statement on Wednesday.

A new police station that straddles the border will, therefore, be built some 80 km east of Norways capital Oslo, the Swedish news agency TT reported.

"Its about strengthening safety and security, which can only be done by working together," Thornberg added.

Norways National Police Commissioner Benedicte Bjornland said in the press statement that many of the criminal networks that operate in Norway have links to Sweden, Xinhua news agency reported.

"This could concern the smuggling of drugs, access to weapons or Swedish gang members carrying out violent missions in Norway," she added.

"Sharing knowledge is important to facilitate a joint preventive effort."

In a study released in 2021, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention found that among 23 European countries studied, Sweden had moved from the lowest number of shootings to the highest during the years 2000 to 2019.

According to the latest statistics released by Swedish Police, 247 shootings resulted in the loss of 30 lives and 73 injuries across the country between January 1 and August 31.

In the same period, 120 bombings took place in Sweden, according to the Swedish Police.

int/khz

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