"The case concerns organized crime and is a comprehensive matter involving many offenses, mainly in Sundsvall, which mainly took place between 2 December 2022 and 26 January 2023," the prosecutor's office writes in a press release.
The defendants include a main figure in Sundsvall and several local accomplices who have contributed to the criminal activities to varying degrees. In addition, there are about ten 'executioners' who travelled from different parts of the country and undertook to commit serious violent crimes on behalf of the principal in exchange for compensation," prosecutor Karin Everitt said in a statement.
14 people in custody
A total of 14 of the defendants are in custody and one is being held in absentia. Four of the accused are under the age of 18, two of whom are in custody.
At the end of January this year, the police carried out simultaneous raids on several addresses in the centre of Sundsvall and arrested around 15 people. Weapons, explosives and large quantities of drugs were seized.
Prosecutor Karin Everitt said the raid was believed to have prevented several serious violent crimes, including a murder and several bombings.
– We have reason to believe that a serious act of violence was going to take place in the city, Everitt told a press conference.
Several of those arrested were remanded in custody the following day on suspicion of charges including conspiracy to commit murder, serious weapons offences and serious drug offences.
Gang conflict
The alleged crimes are linked to a conflict between rival Stockholm-based gangs fighting for control of the drug market in Sundsvall.
On one side is the so-called Dalen network in southern Stockholm, and on the other is the Foxtrot criminal network, allegedly led by the wanted man known as the "Kurdish Fox".
"The influential key figure in Sundsvall has received support from and had close contact with what are believed to be high-ranking individuals within the Foxtrot network," says Karin Everitt in the press release.
A shooting that took place in the Bosvedjan area of Sundsvall in December 2022, in which a man was injured, is believed to have been the starting point for the outbreak of violence, especially in Stockholm, according to several media reports.
The trial is expected to start in mid-August, and is expected to last approximately ten weeks.