Reported drug offences are on the rise in Sweden according to a new report which also claims that children as young as twelve are being forced or lured into dealing.
While the reported increase has gone on across several areas of the country, police say that there were 700 more reported drug offences from April to July of 2018 in the country’s Western Region than there were last year for a total of 6,160, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.
Adam Johansson, a police officer working in the municipality of Botkyrka just south of the capital of Stockholm, noted a trend of younger individuals getting involved in the drug trade.
“What we see is that talented youngsters, 12-year-olds, are forced, more or less or enticed to begin selling by the higher-ranking criminals,” Johansson said.
“I have noticed that there is an upward trend of drugs, given that we find incredible amounts of drugs lately, partly on people but also tucked away in storage spaces. It’s scary that there is so much,” he added.
The most common drugs being sold on Sweden’s streets are cannabis, followed by other drugs like cocaine and ecstasy which, according to the Swedish Drugs Association, are on the rise.
The rise in drug offences is echoed by the growing number of shootings in Sweden over the last several years, many of which are said to be linked to gang crime including a fatal mass shooting in the city of Malmö earlier this year in which almost all the victims were either known to police or involved in gang activity.
Fatal acts of violence in 2017, according to the Swedish criminal statistics agency Brå, are at the highest levels ever recorded since the agency began collecting data.
Swedish County Finds Direct Link Between Mass Migration and Increased Drug Problems, Social Strain https://t.co/0H7rPu3Gr3
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Earlier this year the county of Blekinge found another factor, mass migration, which they claim is also having an effect on increasing problems with illegal drugs.
County Administrative Integration Counsellor Lena Ekroth described the problem saying, “he mental health of the lone children has deteriorated, and in the reports, it is said that there is a major drug problem in this group. That’s something we need to look at, whether that’s right or not.”
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com
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