One in every of Sweden’s most needed gang leaders, Ismail Abdo, has been arrested in Turkey, the Swedish prosecutor’s workplace mentioned on Friday.
The twin Swedish-Turkish nationwide has an in depth checklist of drug-related fees in opposition to him based on the worldwide police company, Interpol.
The 35-year-old, nicknamed The Strawberry, is a well known chief of the Rumba crime gang in Sweden. He’s accused of orchestrating unlawful operations from overseas and has been the topic of an Interpol red notice since final 12 months.
Swedish police didn’t establish him, however confirmed the arrest of a person “suspected of getting engaged in severe drug trafficking and inciting severe violent crimes” for a few years in Sweden.
He was considered one of 19 individuals who have been arrested throughout raids in Turkey, the place officers seized greater than a tonne of medicine, state broadcaster TRT reported. Precisely the place the raids came about has not been revealed.
Arrest warrants have been issued for an additional 21 suspects, of whom 14 have been believed to be overseas and three already in custody on different fees. 4 are nonetheless at massive, TRT added.
Turkish authorities reportedly seized property value round 1.5bn Turkish lira (£27.8m; $38m), together with 20 automobiles, financial institution accounts and 51 actual property properties.
Gang violence in Sweden has escalated lately, partly as a result of Abdo’s former buddy, Rawa Majida, is the chief of a rival gang, Foxtrot.
Many individuals have been killed since their lethal turf battle started. It entered a brand new, violent chapter in 2023 when Abdo’s mom was murdered in her residence in Uppsala, north of the capital, Stockholm.
The escalation prompted the federal government to herald the military to assist sort out the surge in gang killings.
In 2024, Turkish police arrested Abdo throughout a site visitors cease, however launched him on bail regardless of the lively Interpol crimson discover in opposition to him – a transfer which drew criticism from Swedish authorities who have been looking for to extradite Abdo.
The rise in gang violence that has plagued some of Sweden’s biggest cities and unfold to quieter suburbs and cities has shattered its repute as a secure and peaceable nation.
Lat 12 months, Sweden’s safety service, Sapo, accused Iran of recruiting Swedish gang members to hold out assaults on Israeli or Jewish pursuits. In October, a 13-year-old boy fired photographs outdoors the workplaces of Israeli tech agency Elbit Methods. Israel’s embassies in Sweden and Denmark have been additionally each focused.
Sweden’s centre-right governing coalition, which promised to finish the gang crime wave when it was elected in 2022, will see Abdo’s seize as a win. Nevertheless the truth that he’s additionally a Turkish citizen may complicate the extradition course of.
An estimated 14,000 individuals in Sweden are caught up in felony gangs, based on a police report final 12 months, and an additional 48,000 persons are mentioned to be related to them.
