Swedish police intelligence from Gothenburg, Malmö and Stockholm shows that the people involved are almost always young men aged 15-25 who grew up in vulnerable areas, and sell drugs there.
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According to Sveriges Radio's Ekot, pinning down exact figures for the number of criminal networks with the capacity to use firearms in particular is difficult, but according to information from Malmö and Stockholm there are around 30 different groups.
The groups are not however organized gangs in the traditional sense.
“After a while there are disagreements, someone splits off and creates a new network, so this is in some way serious unorganized crime,” Stockholm police criminal commissioner Gunnar Appelgren told Sveriges Radio.