New law lets Swedish police seize luxury items without formal suspicion

Stockholm: Sweden imposed a law on Friday allowing police to seize luxury items from people even if they are not suspected of a crime, if they cannot prove they acquired them legally.

The measure, which was passed by parliament on October 2, is part of the right-wing government’s crackdown on organised criminal gangs.

It means police can seize cars, gold watches and designer goods from people suspected of having ties to criminal gangs, where the items are believed to have been bought with money earned from illicit gang activities, even if the person is not formally suspected of a crime.

An example would be an expensive sports car driven by an unemployed person with no legal income and who cannot explain how they paid for it.

“This is about seizing goods where it is clear that crime is involved,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a press conference earlier this week.

He said the new law was “the biggest reform since the criminal code was introduced” in 1965.

Sweden has struggled to rein in a surge in gang shootings and bombings in recent years, linked to score-settling and struggles to control the illicit drug market.

In 2023, the country registered 53 deaths in 363 shootings, increasingly occurring in public places and at times claiming innocent victims, such as passers-by.

Relatives of gang members have also been targeted in vendetta killings.

The perpetrators are often young teens, hired as contract killers because they are under the age of criminal responsibility, which is 15.

The new seizure law also applies to under-15s.

Concerns over rule of law

“We know that these are status symbols, like watches and cars, which are used to recruit people into criminal gangs,” the prime minister said.

Chief of police Petra Lundh said the new law was “not a gamechanger but a very important piece of the puzzle”.

Critics of the measure - including the Parliamentary Ombudsmen, who ensure that public authorities comply with legislation - have expressed concern about the rule of law, such as the principle of presumption of innocence and the vague requirements for carrying out property and physical searches.

Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer has defended the legislation but acknowledged its “offensive” nature.

“We’re building something that is not part of the traditional models.

“All of the guarantees for rule of law within the framework of criminal cases are obviously not present when you do things outside the traditional model,” he told reporters this week.

“We are being offensive here. Otherwise we won’t get the desired effect,” he said, adding that ultimately a court would have the final say about a seizure.

The organised criminal gang economy is estimated at around 100 to 150 billion kronor ($9.3 to $14 billion) a year, according to authorities.