In February an 18 year-old with no previous convictions was sentenced to five years in prison for serious smuggling crime. He was arrested in November after Swedish Customs stopped a package containing nine kilos of amphetamine addressed to his parental home in Uppsala.
During a period of six months he had received seven packages, all sent from the Netherlands, with a total weight of 85 kilos. The teenager picked up the six previous packages from Postnord by presenting his ID.
A couple of weeks later Nacka District Court sentenced three teenagers aged 17, 18 and 19 for having smuggled in two pistols from the USA hidden in a deep fat fryer. The sanction for the latter two: imprisonment for 2 years and 6 months and 1 year and 6 months respectively.
An avalanche
Swedish Customs estimates that there were 80 cases last year where people under 20 were used to handle packages with illegal contents. All in all there are a couple of hundred suspects. The trend of young people receiving packages containing weapons and drugs for gang criminals in exchange for a couple of thousand kronor is described as avalanche-like.
– The development is so explosive that we feel forced to go out and warn parents, says Lina Andersson, deputy head of the criminal department of Swedish Customs.
The young people are contacted on Snapchat or Tiktok with offers of quick cash. If they accept, the conversation is moved over to the encrypted Signal app where they receive instructions about where and when to pick up and pass on packages.
– In most cases these teenagers are never in contact with an orderer or even a postal worker. They receive a code which they hand in and receive a package.
Forced to move
In December an 18 year-old from Halland with no previous convictions was sentenced to one year of juvenile surveillance for serious smuggling crime. He was 17 when he received a package from Marbella containing 10 kilos of cannabis hidden in picture frames.
On Wednesday another conviction is expected of a 16-year old from Stockholm charged with serious smuggling crime and attempted serious narcotics crime.
According to the prosecution the boy came into contact with a person on Snapchat and committed to receiving a package in exchange for payment. He was arrested in connection with picking up the package, sent from the Netherlands, which contained two kilos of amphetamine hidden in a barbecue.
– We have situations where families have had to move due to the threats that have made when we seize packages and these children end up in debt, says Andersson.
