The Helsinki police warn that a 'crime as a service' phenomenon linked to organized crime in Sweden has reached Finland, with reports of children being recruited for violent acts.
The Helsinki police have issued a warning about a disturbing trend relating to organized crime known as 'crime as a service' that has now been reported in Finland. This phenomenon generally involves online recruitment of individuals to carry out criminal activities for payment. Over the past year, there have been serious crimes investigated where operatives of Swedish organized crime have allegedly recruited people from Sweden to commit violent acts in Finland.
The issue has garnered significant concern as there have been harrowing examples in Sweden where even children have been engaged to carry out severe crimes. Similar to Finland, in Sweden, legal responsibility does not apply to children under the age of 15. This creates a significant legal gap and poses serious risks, as children may be exploited for various criminal activities without severe repercussions for their actions.
An illustrative case that underscores the seriousness of this issue involves a 28-year-old Swedish man who was reported by Aftonbladet last August. This man, who had been living in Chile, is alleged to have recruited children for involvement in gang warfare in Sweden, using the moniker 'Samurai'. His activities included reaching out to potential recruits on platforms like Telegram, where he had amassed a following of 11,000 people.
