Criminal networks are now placing young people in selected schools to maintain control over drug trafficking and territories. The Swedish government says it has called a crisis meeting with three authorities to counter this development.
Several schools in metropolitan areas have become hubs for the gangs' strategic exercise of power, according to a report by the state broadcaster SVT's Uppdrag granskning.
By influencing school choice, the networks place young people with links to criminal circles in specific educational environments – a way of ensuring continued drug sales and keeping an eye on rivals.
School administrators and teachers have sounded the alarm about how young people are being distributed among schools according to the wishes of gang criminal networks.
According to reports, groups divide cities among themselves in order to avoid conflicts and secure the market.
– From what I experience, they’re told from above to choose schools so they can maintain power, their territory or control over a specific school, says an anonymous school host.
Dystopiskt nytt avsnitt av uppdrag granskning.
Gängkriminella bestämmer vilka skolor elever ska gå i för att deras nätverk ska behålla kontroll över området.
Skolan används sedan för att sälja narkotika, förvara vapen och rekrytera unga. pic.twitter.com/AtEc9JNss1
— Herr Husis (@HerrHusis) April 23, 2025
Long-term strategy of the gangs
Planning for school choice often takes place outside the school grounds, where older criminals meet younger ones. The choice of upper secondary school becomes part of the gang's long-term strategy to keep sales channels open during the three years the students are studying.
At the same time, some students store weapons and drugs on school premises, and in some cases the school is used as a recruitment base for violent assignments. Police and school staff report a worrying increase in such cases.
– If we talk about an area where I have many enemies, where I know I've hurt people, if they go to a school there, I definitely don't want to start at that school. Because they'll come after me, says gang member "Hassan".
"Hassan", whose real name is something else, is in his last year of high school and has ties to criminal networks. For him and other students in similar environments, the choice of school determines their safety.
A tenfold increase
Statistics from the Swedish Prosecution Authority show that the number of 15-17-year-olds suspected of murder has increased by over a thousand percent in a decade. During the first quarter of this year, 128 young people were charged in 190 different murder investigations.
Children under the age of 15 have been suspected of 136 cases of murder planning – a threefold increase compared to last year. This development has prompted the government to call in the National Agency for Education, the Swedish Schools Inspectorate, and the Police Authority.
The aim is to coordinate efforts and prevent schools from being used as part of the criminal infrastructure.
– School should be a safe place for learning . not an arena where criminal forces gain a foothold. It is completely unacceptable that teachers are intimidated into silence by students with violent tendencies, strategically placed by criminal networks, says Minister of Education Johan Pehrson.
At the same time, the Crime Prevention Council reports that prosecutions of 15-17-year-olds increased by 10% in 2023 compared with the previous year.
However, researchers warn that repressive measures alone are not enough – preventive work and social support measures are highlighted as crucial to breaking the trend.
The Swedish government has announced that more proposals are on the way. The authorities' feedback is expected in the coming weeks.
