Denmark and Sweden vow to hunt down gang leaders who hire minors to kill from abroad

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Danish and Swedish justice ministers vowed Wednesday to go after organized crime leaders abroad, whom they say have been hiring teenagers in Sweden to carry out deadly shootings in Denmark. Denmark’s Peter Hummelgaard has said that gangs have hired young Swedes to commit crimes in Denmark at least 25 times since April, in part because Swedish law imposes lighter penalties for minors who commit serious crimes. One of Sweden’s two major gangs is led by a Swedish-Turkish dual national who lives in Turkey, which refuses to extradite its own citizens. Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer said that Sweden would tighten its laws, noting that minors who are convicted of murder in Sweden are placed in juvenile facilities, while they can face up to 16 years in prison in Denmark.