Famed for its openness and slower pace of life, Sweden is one of the last places you might expect to see children being pulled off the streets and searched without a warrant, or having their phones spied on by detectives.
But after four years of gang violence that has seen children as young as 12 recruited on social media to carry out hit jobs against rival gangsters, police say it has become a grim but necessary reality.
In April 2024, Swedish police were handed sweeping new powers to tackle the rise of Middle Eastern drug syndicates who groom boys and girls into being “foot soldiers” by offering them up to 150,000 kroner (£12,500) per job.
