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CRIME

Swedish kickboxer found guilty of murdering record producer Flamur Beqiri in London

A British court on Friday convicted a man of murder after he flew from Sweden to carry out a gangland hit in south London on Christmas Eve 2019, disguising himself as a litter picker.

Swedish kickboxer found guilty of murdering record producer Flamur Beqiri in London
Anis Hemissi wore disguises when surveilling Flamur Beqiri’s property before carrying out the hit. Photo: police

Swedish national Anis Hemissi, 24, was found guilty after a ten-week trial at Southwark Crown Court in south London of murdering suspected gangland kingpin Flamur Beqiri, 36, with a semi-automatic weapon in front of his wife and young child.

The court heard Hemissi flew from Sweden specifically to kill Beqiri, but was caught after his movements were tracked by CCTV.

Detectives found that Hemissi stayed in a flat close to Flamur’s home in Battersea in the days before the murder, and that the shooting was part of a dispute between two organised crime groups based in Sweden.

Flamur Beqiri was gunned down outside his house. Photo: Police

Professional kickboxer Hemissi scoped out his target for two days, wearing a high-vis jacket and latex face mask as he disguised himself as a litter picker.

But he attracted attention by using bicycle considered in Britain to be a “ladies’ design” with a basket, and a local resident found it suspicious that he was cleaning both a private estate and a council road.

Swedish national Estevan Pino-Munizaga, 35, was acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter after helping arrange Hemissi’s visit.

The prosecution said that two British men, Clifford Rollox and Claude Castor, travelled to the flat after Hemissi had left in order to clean up, but that their task was thwarted by police present at the address.

Both were both found guilty of perverting the course of justice. A police search of the flat found the bike and litter picker used by
Hemissi and a ripped up piece of an airline ticket stub with part of his name on it.

“This was a meticulously planned murder that originated from a dispute between organised criminal groups in Sweden,” said Scotland Yard detective Jamie Stevenson, the lead investigator in the case.

“The fatal shooting, at point blank range in front of the victim’s wife and young child, was a deeply shocking and distressing incident,” he added.

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CRIME

Illegal Swedish strawberry sales raise billions of kronor for organised crime

Swedish police have carried out raids on strawberry vendors suspected of being linked to gang crime.

Illegal Swedish strawberry sales raise billions of kronor for organised crime

According to Aftonbladet, the raids may be connected to one of Sweden’s most wanted gang leaders, Ismail Abdo, nicknamed Jordgubben (“The Strawberry”).

Police didn’t comment on specific names of gang leaders linked to the raids, but said in a statement that they had “hit a central violent actor by targeting individuals around this person and their business structures”.

Raids were carried out in Bergslagen, as well as the Mitt and Stockholm police regions.

It’s suspected that these sellers had been marketing Belgian strawberries as Swedish and using the revenue to fund serious organised crime. Police also found children under the legal working age and migrants without legal residency permits working at the stalls.

Police believe that illegal strawberry sales turn over billions of kronor every year.

“We’ve carried out multiple actions together with other authorities,” Per Lundbäck, from the Bergslagen policing region, told Swedish news agency TT. “By cutting off the finances off this type of organised crime, we can weaken gangs’ financing and their ability to carry out crimes.”

To avoid buying strawberries linked to crime, Lundbäck recommends paying attention to the company you buy your strawberries from.

“The first thing you can do is look at the number the (mobile phone payment app) Swish payment goes to, to make sure it’s a company number starting with 123, and not a private number,” he said.

Most companies will have their Swish number displayed somewhere on the stand, so you should be able to check this even if you don’t have the app and are paying with card, for example.

He also added that you can pay attention to the age of the person selling the strawberries, describing very young sellers as a “red flag”.

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