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CRIME

How likely is it that Iran hands over Swedish gang leader Rawa Majid?

Reports that Swedish gang leader Rawa Majid, also known as the Kurdish Fox, has been captured in Iran, have yet to be confirmed. If they are true, however, it's by no means certain that he will be handed over to Sweden.

How likely is it that Iran hands over Swedish gang leader Rawa Majid?
Rouzbeh Parsi from the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. File photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

According to public broadcaster SVT, Rawa Majid, the leader of the Foxtrot gang, which is behind Sweden’s most recent wave of gang violence, was arrested after showing fake ID at the Iranian border during a routine check.

“There are many ifs and buts when it comes to the way Iran will react to this,” head of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Rouzbeh Parsi, told TT newswire.

“There are two chief possibilities,” Parsi explained. “The first one is that they suspect he is trying to enter the country in order to carry out some sort of criminal activity. In that case, they might hold on to him until they’ve figured that out.”

“The second alternative is that they just see him as someone who’s trying to escape from something and is attempting to enter the country illegally. In that case, the logical thing to do, as in many other countries, would be to send him back to wherever he came from, which in this case is probably Turkey.”

Parsi believes the most probable outcome is that Majid is sent back to Turkey, as he holds Turkish citizenship.

“Unless Sweden says they want him. But as we don’t have an extradition treaty with Iran, as far as I know, it’s not that simple.”

Parsi is not convinced that Iran is aware of who Majid is.

“It’s hard to be sure, but I suspect they’re not completely aware. It’s possible that if they search for him, something will pop up, and in that case the question is whether they think this is a card they can use against Sweden or if they should send him back to Turkey,” he said.

Iran’s reaction in this situation also depends on how much Sweden wants Majid to be handed over.

“In that case, it would be more interesting for him.”

“He’s interesting for them if it gives them political leverage over Sweden, but he’s not interesting for them otherwise. In that case, you’d need to look at whether there’s a track record with Iran when it comes to normal criminal cases and whether there’s any kind of cooperation there.”

If that’s the case, Majid could potentially be handed over to Sweden “straight away”, as long as Turkey doesn’t want him, Parsi said.

“If there’s no track record then there’s a risk that this gets stuck in the complicated relationship the two countries have with each other.”

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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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