The business has been built up systematically and over time with main warehouses, transports and local warehouses. They have also had site managers, runners and transporters under them, prosecutor Stina Stener said in her plea, according to Västerbottens-Kuriren.
According to the prosecutor, the three men, aged 22, 24 and 26 respectively, have held leading positions and controlled much of the "organized and systematically conducted drug trafficking" for a long time in Umeå and the surrounding area.
The trio primarily used encrypted chats to post offers of "jobs" linked to drug activities.
Long string of crimes
The crime spans from the summer of 2023 to December 2024, and the drug activities include transportation, storage and sale. All three were arrested around the turn of the year 2024-2025.
Umeå District Court has now sentenced the trio to between seven and eight years in prison. The two older men are convicted of a particularly serious drug offense, while the 22-year-old is convicted of a serious drug offense and handling explosives.
The 24-year-old and 26-year-old are described in the verdict as the main instigators. They have "together built up an extensive organized operation focused on drug trafficking that they themselves led while allowing - or, through threats, forcing - others to carry out the physical handling of drugs and money," the district court writes.
The police chief for serious crimes testified in court that the availability of drugs in Umeå decreased significantly after the trio was arrested, even though other actors have emerged since then.
The 26-year-old is also convicted of aggravated assault, attempted aggravated extortion, involving a minor in a crime, and threats and assault against an official.
Contact with gang leader
The activities are linked to the Dalen network, which according to the police has largely controlled the drug market in the Umeå area. The 26-year-old has been in direct contact with gang leader Mikael Tenezos, who is now in custody in Sweden after being extradited from Mexico last fall.
The two younger men are said to have carried out the crime from abroad. The 22-year-old was arrested at Arlanda after being extradited from Thailand and the 24-year-old was arrested in Portugal, where police from Umeå collaborated with local police, according to VK.
Mikael Tenezos, 27 years old and known as "The Greek", is identified as the leader of the Stockholm-based Dalen network. Tenezos is believed to have gained a leading position in the network after several other people were imprisoned or murdered.
He was in Mexico with several other people in the network for several years. They controlled the network from there, including by trying to persuade young people to commit crimes.
Tenezos was arrested in Mexico in October 2025 and extradited to Sweden shortly thereafter. He is now in custody for around 30 crimes, including preparation and attempted murder and particularly serious weapons offenses. He denies the charges.
The Dalen network is known as one of Sweden's most violent criminal gangs, and is considered by the police to handle large quantities of narcotics. In 2023, the network ended up in a violent conflict with the Foxtrot network, which resulted in a large number of murders and acts of violence.
Source: Police and TT
