8 ms·

How come organized criminals use bombs in Sweden but rarely anywhere else? IMO bombs are more like the M.O of terrorists. If a gang wanted to scare or take out

How come organized criminals use bombs in Sweden but rarely anywhere else? IMO bombs are more like the M.O of terrorists. If a gang wanted to scare or take out a rival, there must be more efficient ways. A bomb not only draws unwanted attention from the public and authorities, you also run the risk of hurting the wrong people. (Edit: Am a Swede, and live nearby the Linköping bomb site that hurt 25 this June..)

nkozyra 7y ago
The article draws comparisons to Mexico, where bombs are a part of gang warfare. Guns are efficient killing machines but I'd argue they represent a greater chance of being caught when attempting to kill or injure a lot of people at once. And this is terrorism, per the article, it's just seen as intra gang, not general public. That's also a +1 for a bomb, which can be hidden in plain sight and doesn't have to "work" to be good as a deterrent for rival gangs.
- nabla9 7y ago
  This is not terrorism by any definition. Terrorism must have political agenda. It's political violence against non-combatants.
schwap 7y ago
As recently as the early 2000s the Quebec Biker War[1] in Canada between the Hells Angels and Rock Machine gangs involved over 80 bombs. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Biker_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Biker_War
tobbe2064 7y ago
It is my understanding that explosives where popularized after an influx of hand grenades from Serbia. Until rather recently these have been categorized as dangerous materials rather then weapons so it didn't carry the same risks being caught with them as with handguns. My uneducated guess as to why the violence is that is has become decentralized. We had a fairly long period with stable power structures in the Swedish underground, there where a few biker gangs that had a few rare and violent bouts bouts but they where infrequent. Today we have a large number of loosely organized criminals that act independently, fighting over much smaller turfs. In some sense this might very well be because the old criminal organizations, populated mostly by right leaning criminals, have failed to integrate potential recruits from different ethnic backgrounds.
- loopz 7y ago
  So, even criminals are now either left or right leaning? Sweden has a problem with freedom of speech, PC and political elite, that fail to acknowledge the consequences of their policies.
krona 7y ago
The organised gangs use anti-tank mines to settle scores in sweden. Hand grenades and bangers are just handed down to users like the drugs. The serbian gangs obviously see a market for it. I'm glad the Serbs don't seem to think it's worth selling them AK-47s and RPGs, yet.

nkozyra 7y ago

The article draws comparisons to Mexico, where bombs are a part of gang warfare. Guns are efficient killing machines but I'd argue they represent a greater chance of being caught when attempting to kill or injure a lot of people at once. And this is terrorism, per the article, it's just seen as intra gang, not general public. That's also a +1 for a bomb, which can be hidden in plain sight and doesn't have to "work" to be good as a deterrent for rival gangs.

nabla9 7y ago
This is not terrorism by any definition. Terrorism must have political agenda. It's political violence against non-combatants.

schwap 7y ago

As recently as the early 2000s the Quebec Biker War[1] in Canada between the Hells Angels and Rock Machine gangs involved over 80 bombs. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Biker_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_Biker_War

tobbe2064 7y ago

It is my understanding that explosives where popularized after an influx of hand grenades from Serbia. Until rather recently these have been categorized as dangerous materials rather then weapons so it didn't carry the same risks being caught with them as with handguns. My uneducated guess as to why the violence is that is has become decentralized. We had a fairly long period with stable power structures in the Swedish underground, there where a few biker gangs that had a few rare and violent bouts bouts but they where infrequent. Today we have a large number of loosely organized criminals that act independently, fighting over much smaller turfs. In some sense this might very well be because the old criminal organizations, populated mostly by right leaning criminals, have failed to integrate potential recruits from different ethnic backgrounds.

loopz 7y ago
So, even criminals are now either left or right leaning? Sweden has a problem with freedom of speech, PC and political elite, that fail to acknowledge the consequences of their policies.

krona 7y ago

The organised gangs use anti-tank mines to settle scores in sweden. Hand grenades and bangers are just handed down to users like the drugs. The serbian gangs obviously see a market for it. I'm glad the Serbs don't seem to think it's worth selling them AK-47s and RPGs, yet.