Trump to impose sanctions on criminal immigrant gangs in Sweden

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it is imposing sanctions on the immigrant criminal Foxtrot network in Sweden and its wanted leader Rawa “Kurdish fox” Majid. The reason is that the gang has carried out attacks on targets in the U.S. sphere of interest.

Specifically cited as the basis for the sanctions decision is the attack on the Israeli embassy in Stockholm in January last year. The Foxtrot network has been identified as the perpetrator but, unlike other acts, did not act on its own motives but on behalf of the Iranian government.

There are also suspicions that the immigrant criminal gang similarly is behind a similar attack on the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen. The attacks on the Swedish branch of the Israeli defense industrial company Elbit are also believed to have been carried out by gang criminals on behalf of the Iranian Islamist regime.

Personal connections to Iran’s security service

OFAC states that it has information that Rawa Majid has personally collaborated with Iran’s security service. In a comment, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says, “The Department of the Treasury and the U.S. government, together with international partners, will continue to hold those enabling Iran’s criminal and destabilizing agenda accountable“.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also comments on the decision, describing the immigrant criminal Foxtrot network as “a notorious criminal gang based in Sweden and a prominent player in the drug trade in the region“.

“The group is involved in arms smuggling and contributes to the rising violent crime in northern Europe, where it is behind shootings, contract killings, and assaults“, Rubio further writes, mentioning the connection to Iran and the Muslim theocratic regime’s security service, similar to Bessent.

Supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, along with Rawa “Kurdish fox” Majid and Ismail “Strawberry” Abdo. Photo: Iranian government/Police

Specifically, the sanctions mean that all property and interests in property in the U.S. linked to the Foxtrot network and its criminal members will be blocked and/or seized. Property controlled by what is deemed to be frontmen in the U.S. for the criminal gang is also covered by the sanctions. Travel restrictions are also imposed on anyone the U.S. government considers to be part of the Foxtrot network’s sphere.

Swedish government: “Views positively”

Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer (M) said in a comment to SVT that he welcomes the U.S. sanctions decision:

“From the Swedish side, we view positively the steps taken by the U.S., which means that influential actors in the networks can be disrupted and prevented from continuing their criminal activities. The U.S. decision to impose sanctions on a prominent Swedish actor can hopefully help further strengthen the operational work that the authorities are conducting.”