Shootings have decreased sharply and are now at their lowest level since 2017. At the same time, the police have arrested and prosecuted hundreds of individuals and have worked more intensively against criminal networks, both in Sweden and abroad. A person with many years’ insight into the gang criminal environment now tells Samnytt that the change is apparent on the street and among the leadership who manage parts of the crime digitally via encrypted chats. The person says that the feeling in the criminal environment is that the government is serious about its ambition to restore the “old safe Sweden.”
– Many are not as willing to take the same risks as before, the person says.

In recent years, arrests of gang criminals have come one after another in Sweden. Meanwhile, more people with links to criminal networks have tried to remain hidden in other countries, where they have continued to run parts of their operations via encrypted communication at a distance from Sweden. But even these individuals are being apprehended continuously abroad.

This trend is also visible in police statistics. In 2025, 158 confirmed shootings occurred in Sweden. This is a sharp decrease from 2022, when the figure was 391. The 2025 level was also the lowest since the Swedish Police Authority began to continuously monitor shootings in 2017.

During the first seven months of 2026, the number of shootings has declined further. A total of 49 shootings were registered in Sweden, compared to 101 during the same period in 2025. The police also note that over time, the number of shootings has decreased, with fewer dead and injured.

Fatal firearms violence has also declined. In the first half of 2026, eight people died and 15 were injured in shootings. During the same period in 2025, there were 86 shootings, with 27 dead and 20 injured.

READ ALSO: Gang Source to Samnytt: This is How Much the Kurdish Fox Pays for the Attacks

Nonetheless, the police emphasize that there is still a high level of conflict between criminal networks and that the agency therefore sees no reason to slow its pace.

At the same time, it is worth highlighting another development. As policing has become more effective, gang criminals have increasingly begun to use ever younger people to carry out violent deeds. One reason is said to be that older actors want to avoid being directly linked to the crimes, while the younger ones in many cases cannot be punished in the same way.

The problem for the networks is that the young perpetrators often have significantly less knowledge of how to avoid detection. They therefore leave more traces behind, making it easier for the police to identify and apprehend them.

Hanna Paradis, acting head of the national police operations center, says that much has changed in the police’s work against gang-related crime.

– A lot has changed within the Swedish police, and the decline in shootings is the result of us working on every front: locally, nationally, internationally, and digitally, sharing information in real time, she says and continues:

– Through this work, we have been able to arrest and prosecute hundreds of individuals and have reduced the most violence-driven criminal networks, which today are weaker than before. That being said, we are not slowing down. We know the level of conflict is still high.

The Gangs Focus More on Bomb Attacks

The trend is not as clear-cut regarding bombings. In 2025, there were 189 explosions in Sweden, an increase from 136 the previous year. The police have described the detonations as part of strategic violence, where the purpose is often to intimidate or extort rather than kill.

There is, however, a downward trend in 2026. During the first half of the year, 68 detonations were registered, compared to 108 during the same period in 2025. In July, another two detonations were added, bringing the total to 71 in the first seven months of the year.

READ ALSO: Ekeroth: “When no one is shooting, it’s good for the gangs”

The statistics look positive, but the market for drug trafficking in Sweden remains enormous and many want a share of the considerable profits. Even when there are no shootings or bombings, the gangs’ activities continue quietly, notably through the drug trade.

However, the declining violence statistics are a step in the right direction and a marked improvement compared to just a few years ago, when shootings and bombings followed one another sometimes daily, at least weekly.

Gang Source: “No One Feels Safe”

This is the backdrop to Samnytt’s conversation with the person with insight into the gang criminal environment. Alongside the statistics, several reports have appeared during the spring and summer that people in the gang criminal world feel the conditions have changed.

READ ALSO: Ekeroth: “Tidö policies push back the gangs – Sweden must not change course now”

It has become harder to operate openly, the risk of getting caught is perceived as greater, and more people are said to weigh risks against rewards before taking on a job.

Samnytt has spoken to a person involved in the gang criminal scene with many years of experience. The person has deep insight into how the networks operate, how the contacts and chains between various actors work, and how people in the environment disappear as more are arrested and convicted.

When asked how the person perceives the change in recent years compared to before, the answer is clear. It is above all the feeling that the risk of getting caught has increased that is said to affect criminal behavior.

Support Samnytt’s work by subscribing – Click HERE – half price!

– From what I see and hear from criminals, no one feels safe, it’s harder to commit crimes, and many are not as willing to take the same risks as before, since even simple workers performing tasks are getting very harsh sentences.

According to the source, the change doesn’t just affect people at the top of the criminal networks. Even so-called “runners,” that is, people hired to carry out specific crimes like drug dealing and violent acts, are said to have become more cautious.

This means that even those previously prepared to take a job for money now more often need to weigh the payment against the risk of being apprehended and sentenced.

Highlights Police Intelligence Work

According to the source, it is mainly the police intelligence work that has improved. The authorities are said to be better at mapping networks, identifying people, and following communication between different actors.

Asked if there is anything specific about the police’s work that stands out today, the person replies:

– I think the police have become more effective over the past two years, they’ve started mapping in a whole new way, gotten closer to various networks, and their intelligence work has improved. They’ve even managed to identify many people through encrypted chats.

According to the source, this is a clear change from earlier years. Anyone in the criminal scene can no longer count on communication and contacts automatically remaining hidden from police.

More Arrested Abroad

At the same time, Sweden has in recent years worked more actively at the international level to locate and arrest individuals suspected of serious crime who have left the country.

Samnytt asks why the source thinks more gang criminals are now being arrested and brought home.

– I think the government meant, and means, business when they came to power and wanted to bring back the old safe Sweden. Sweden is spending a lot and building relationships with countries it didn’t have great relations with before.

Support Samnytt’s work by subscribing – Click HERE – half price!

The source assesses that the international cooperation which Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer and Swedish law enforcement agencies have intensified with counterparts in other countries has become an important part of the development.

– No country really wants gang criminals within its borders, so I think Sweden is focusing much more on countries known as bases for gang operations, and via new relationships, people can be apprehended and brought back.

Leaving Sweden is thus no longer such an easy solution for those trying to avoid Swedish authorities. As cooperation deepens between countries, the risk increases that people who previously managed to stay away abroad are located and arrested.

Seeking Out Other Countries

At the same time, the tougher pressure does not mean people in the criminal environment have stopped looking abroad. On the contrary, more are said to be trying to move parts of their criminal operations to other countries.

According to Samnytt’s gang source, this is both because of the increased risk in Sweden and because it’s become harder to handle money and transfer it out of the country.

– More and more are trying to commit crimes in other countries, partly because more and more get caught, and partly because it has become harder to exchange krona and make transfers abroad. As Sweden has cracked down hard on currency exchange offices, the prices have gone up at the few remaining bureaus.

This means, the source explains, that the criminal environment is trying to adapt to the new conditions. As the risk rises in Sweden, other countries become more attractive as a base, but it has become harder to move money between countries.

The money often needs to be converted from cash on the street in Sweden to cryptocurrency, which can then be transferred from person to person and country to country without passing through the anti-money laundering controls of the traditional banking system.

A Changed Risk Calculation

For the source Samnytt spoke with, the change during this parliamentary term is most evident in the fact that more are being arrested and fewer are ready to take the same risks as earlier.

This picture is repeated throughout the interview, as shootings and bombings become less frequent. The gang criminal environment has not disappeared, and opportunities to make money remain, as the demand for drugs is still high in Sweden. But the playing field is described as much tougher now.

For someone who was previously ready to risk a short prison sentence—likely with a sentence discount, their own cell, and good chances to avoid deportation for foreign nationals—in order to make quick money, the calculation may have shifted after Tidö government’s four years as the Sweden Democrats’ law-and-order policy has begun to take effect.

– No one feels safe, is the message from the gang criminal environment.

READ ALSO: Gang Source Warns Youth: “This Life Is Not Glamorous – It’s Constant Paranoia, Prison, and Death”