Pomegranates from the sky. A new, brutal stage of the gang war in Stockholm

Swedish police have made a series of arrests in the criminal community in connection with finding equipment for a drone that allows it to drop grenades. Will gang warfare reach new heights? – wonder the Scandinavian media.

According to the daily “Aftonbladet”, the police detained eight people in the Stockholm region last week, three of whom are directly related to the drone case, and five are suspected of crimes related to explosives.

The local newspaper “LT” from the town of Soedertaelje near Stockholm reported that the drone device, which allows carrying and launching hand grenades using a remote control, was in the car of young people associated with the so-called phalanx from Ronna (Soedertaelje district).

There have been several explosions and one arson in Soedertealje recently. It is unclear whether a drone may have been involved. The newspaper points out that the mere possession of a device for launching grenades from drones is not prohibited by law, which makes it difficult for the police to fight this practice.

The Danish newspaper “Berlingske” also wrote about the case, wondering “do the gangs operating in Sweden have no borders?” Previously, their idea was to recruit children via Internet messengers to plant bombs and commit murders. This practice quickly moved to Denmark and Norway.

Swedish Radio recalled recent reports from Europol and the European Commission, which warned that drones could fall into the hands of criminals, smugglers or terrorists. Member States were urged to take action. As recalled, the background of the problem is the rapid development of unmanned aerial vehicles as weapons, which occurred after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In Sweden, while the number of shootings has decreased in the last three years, there has been an increase in the number of explosions. In 2025, there were 189 detonations, compared to 136 a year earlier. Grenades are planted by gangs most often to intimidate or extort ransom. Police confiscated almost 200 grenades earlier this year.

From Stockholm Daniel Zyśk (PAP)

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