Fox News reports increasing blasts and shootings around Copenhagen this year have “prompted Danish authorities to tighten border controls at the country’s crossings with Sweden.”
Over the weekend, Danish police conducted checks on trains and vehicles crossing the Oresund Bridge over the narrow waterway that separates Copenhagen, Denmark’s largest city, and Malmo, Sweden’s third largest.
A police spokesman told the Associated Press that officers at the bridge vehicle checkpoint had “a particular focus on cross-border crime involving explosives, weapons and drugs.”
“It gives us a pretty good picture of who is coming over,” he said
Stricter border controls have been enforced, which include a passport requirement for Swedes crossing into Denmark. This follows increasing violence in Malmo, which is believed to be gang related, involving drugs money protection and retaliation. It is estimated there are about a dozen criminal gangs now operating.
A 15-year-old boy in Malmo was shot and killed, and another boy critically injured on Saturday. Police said the teenagers were known to police authorities, and have vowed to crack down on organized crime.