A 25-year-old member of a Danish gang appeared in a preliminary court hearing at the Frederiksberg Court on Friday. He is charged with participating in a case of arms possession linked to an ongoing gang conflict. The police believe that the young man played a central role in the events surrounding the arrest of a Swedish citizen earlier this week in Tingbjerg, a neighborhood in Copenhagen.
On Friday morning, the 25-year-old was escorted into the court wearing casual clothes. The court session regarding his detention was delayed as the judge was caught in traffic. According to police, he, along with several others, assisted the arrested Swedish individual in the days leading up to the arrest, including allowing him to stay in his apartment south of Copenhagen and ordering a taxi for him shortly before the arrest.
The 25-year-old has pleaded not guilty and has been granted a name ban at his attorney’s request, who argued that the publication of his name could threaten his safety due to the ongoing gang conflict. He was arrested on Thursday morning and is suspected of having assisted the Swedish citizen, who was caught in the act with two hand grenades at Utterslev Mose, a wetland area in the northwest part of Copenhagen.
The police, who were also on the scene with dogs and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit, have now arrested a total of three individuals in connection with this case. A 41-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday and is also charged with having assisted the Swedish individual by providing the hand grenades, securing a hotel room, and acting as a driver.
These arrests occur amid an escalating gang conflict in Copenhagen, where Loyal to Familia (LTF), a gang, is in conflict with an as-yet undetermined network that includes both Danish and Swedish criminals. The Minister of Justice recently reported that since April, there have been 25 incidents in which Swedish criminals have been hired to commit serious crimes in Denmark. Two other Swedish citizens were recently arrested and charged with attempted murder after throwing a grenade into a kiosk in Østerbro, a district in Copenhagen. Additionally, two others have been arrested for possession of handguns.
These events unfold in the wake of reports of death lists suggesting that LTF is in conflict with a notorious Swedish gang leader known as ‘Jordbærret’ (Strawberry).