Strawberry sales can finance serious network criminality, the police suspect.
On Thursday, a national operation was carried out in several police regions.
We have identified a central actor in one of the criminal networks that also engages in business activities, including strawberry sales, says Per Lundbäck, police chief in the Bergslagen region, to TT.
The operation, which was carried out in collaboration with several other authorities, targeted various individuals and businesses linked to the actor.
The police suspect that the strawberry sales illegally generate billions of kronor each year and finance serious organised crime.
Several regions
In parallel with the operation in Bergslagen, similar operations were carried out in the police regions of Mitt and Stockholm. These also have, according to the police, a direct link to the current actor.
According to Aftonbladet, the police raid may be linked to the activities of the wanted gang leader Ismail "Strawberry" Abdo.
We are carrying out several joint authority operations. By strangling the financing of this type of serious organised crime, the network's violent capital and ability to conduct criminal activities are weakened, says Lundbäck to TT.
Appeal before Midsummer
He is now urging consumers to be aware of which businesses they buy their strawberries from before Midsummer.
The first thing you can do is to check the number that the Swish payment goes to, so that it is a company number starting with the digits 123, and not a private number, he says.
Something else to be aware of is the age of the sellers.
In our operation, we discovered that several of the sellers were minors, which is a warning flag to keep an eye on.
