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SHIPPING

Thieves hit Gothenburg shipping terminal

Police believe a gang of organized criminals is behind the daring weekend heist of two trailers filled with valuable electronics from a Stena Line shipping terminal in Gothenburg.

The thieves first used trucks to crash through protective fencing surrounding the trailers in the early hours of Sunday morning.

They then hooked up the trucks to two trailers before speeding off with goods police estimate had a value in the millions of kronor.

“It was a very sophisticated job and the goods were of a particularly high value. They knew what they were after and there’s reason to suspect this was an inside job,” said Gothenburg police spokesperson Per-Arne Nilsson to the Göteborgs-Posten newspaper.

It’s the second time Stena has been hit within the last month.

The company updated security procedures following the first robbery, something which Nilsson believes caused the burglars to take a more direct approach at the weekend.

“Stena tightened procedures and that’s probably why they drove right through the fence this time. Stena has done its best to protect the freight, but the thefts are so well-planned and well-organized that it doesn’t help,” said Nilsson.

According to Nilsson, the number of thefts of goods in transport in southwest Sweden has decreased from 468 in 2007 to 239 so far this year.

At the same time however, the value of the goods stolen has doubled, leading Nilsson to believe that highly organized criminals are responsible for the heists.

A spokesperson for Stena Line, Joakim Kenndal confirmed the thefts but wouldn’t comment on the content of the trailers that were taken or value of the stolen cargo.

He added that he had never previously heard of thieves stealing Stena trailers by driving straight through the perimeter fencing.

“We now need to review our surveillance system further,” he told the newspaper.

POLITICS

Red-green coalition takes power in Gothenburg

The Social Democrats, Green Party and Left Party have managed to oust the right-wing Moderates from power in Gothenburg, despite failing to strike a coalition deal with the Centre Party.

Red-green coalition takes power in Gothenburg

The Social Democrats, Left Party and Green Party will now take over the municipality with Jonas Attenius, group leader for the Social Democrats in the city, becoming the new mayor.

“We three parties are ready to together take responsibility for leading Gothenburg,” Attenius wrote to TT. “I am looking forward immensely to leading Gothenburg in the coming years.” 

The three parties will lead a minority government, with 40 out of 81 mandates, meaning it will dependent on mandates from the Centre Party to pass proposals. 

The three parties had hoped to bring the Centre Party into the coalition, but talks fell apart on Monday,  October 24th. 

“We our going into opposition, but our goal is to be an independent, liberal force, which can negotiate both to the left and to the right,” the party’s group leader in Gothenburg, Emmyly Bönfors told the Göteborgs-Posten newspaper. 

The end of talks in Gothenburg leave the Social Democrats leading coalition governments in all three of Sweden’s major cities, with Karin Wanngård appointed Mayor of Stockholm on October 17th. 

The Social Democrats had unbroken control in Malmö since 1994, after they regained power from the Moderates, who controlled the city from 1991-1994, and also from 1985-1988. 

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