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SWEDEN

The police tricked dealer into selling drugs
Published April 5, 2024 at 3:39 p.m
LAW & JUSTICE. Through criminal provocation, the police in Hälsingland managed to get a man to sell drugs to a police officer. The man, who is in his 30s, is now charged with several counts of drug offences.

New legislation, which entered into force in the summer of 2023, increased the penalty for selling drugs and has made it easier for prosecutors to decide on - and police to actively work with - so-called evidence provocation (criminal provocation).

- We haven't acted in these arenas as much as we might have liked. The new legislation makes it possible for us to work with provocation of evidence and for prosecutors to make that decision, says Thomas Lundqvist, head of preliminary investigations in Bollnäs.

During the winter, the police in Hälsingland worked on a case where criminal provocation was used. The police themselves write about the case on their website.

- The police received information about an account on Snapchat where drugs could be bought. Together with an offensive prosecutor, we set up a plan for how we could act against this account and we received a decision from the prosecutor about provocation of evidence, says Thomas Lundqvist.

The police created an account on Snapchat to act as the buyer and contacted the seller. The seller described what was for sale and a time and place was arranged between the seller and the figured buyer.

- All of a sudden, a policeman stood with a bag of white powder in his fist. The seller, a man in his 30s, was arrested by colleagues who were nearby, says Thomas Lundqvist.

"We will continue to work this way"
The intervention led to a search of the house where more drugs were found. The man who was arrested was arrested by prosecutors on suspicion of drug offenses by having offered drugs for sale, drug offenses for the purpose of transfer and drug possession offences. He was later arrested. The trial will be held on April 4.

- We will continue to work in this way and make it more difficult to sell drugs on social media. For decades we have worked with classic street scouting, but sales have continued anyway. You shouldn't be able to feel safe just because you sell drugs under an alias on social media, says Thomas Lundqvist.