The metropolitan area police departments as well as the central criminal police have been investigating a so-called street gang crime since last summer. The whole is now progressing to prosecution.
Police suspect members of the Espoo and Helsinki street gangs of the crimes. The case, which included suspected beatings, aggravated robbery, aggravated deprivation of liberty and an illegal threat, was transferred to the prosecution.
The suspects are between the ages of 18 and 26.
“Street gangs are groups of young men with their own names and strongly stigmatized in certain neighborhoods. Street gangs commit various crimes together and there are violent clashes between gangs in different neighborhoods. Some of the gangs engage in active drug trafficking, which becomes a direct link to organized crime, ”says the criminal prosecutor in a police release. Markku Heinikari From the Helsinki Police Department.
According to police, street gangs have formed around gangsta rap music. According to the police, the songs made by the suspects glorify the criminal lifestyle and create confrontation between the gangs. Social media also has a big role to play in creating confrontation.
For street gangs a number of armed contacts between gangs have been identified in a related investigation.
The violent scolding has apparently originated from an assault in Helsinki in May, on which members of both gangs are suspected. According to the police, the dispute has led to an assassination attempt in Itäkeskus, where a 19-year-old man stabbed an 18-year-old man. According to the police, the perpetrator belonged to the Espoo gang and the victim to the Helsinki gang.
Read more: “Invalid” dispute on social media led to a dispute – a dispute between acquaintances behind the stabbing of Itäkeskus
The series of crimes also involves, for example, an assault in a hotel in Helsinki, which has been videotaped on social media. After the assault, members of the Helsinki gang are suspected of firing several shots at a detached house in Lintuvaara, Espoo. There were home parties in the house, which, according to police, were attended by several members of the Espoo gang.
“Some of the shots stopped at the living room window and one hit a car in the yard. No one was injured. Ten members of the Helsinki gang are suspected of the crime, ”says the crime commissioner in the press release Aura Lehtinen From the Western Uusimaa Police Department.
In mid-September, members of the Espoo gang are suspected of firing several shots in the yard of an apartment building in Leppävaara. One of the bullets pierced the window of a bystander. Residents were not injured in the incident but were at home at the time of the shooting.
Helsinki police first reported violent clashes in the metropolitan area in October last year. At the time, police said there were less than 10 street gangs in the metropolitan area, including about 100 young people.
Read more: “We have been following for a long time” – Police tell of street gangs in the Helsinki region, where crime is glorified and weapons are not shunned
In October, police staged an operation in Helsinki’s Kaivohuone, where police arrested ten people to prevent serious violence. According to the police, members of the Helsinki gang had planned to attack members of the Espoo gang in Kaivohuone. According to police, the target of the violence was a 19-year-old member of the Espoo gang.
Read more: Police arrested ten people in Helsinki last Friday to “prevent serious violence”
Police canceled the opportunity before it began. Police suspect a total of 12 members of the Helsinki gang of preparing for a serious crime against life or health. The suspects are between the ages of 18 and 26. Three suspects are still in custody. One of them is the victim of Itäkeskus’ last summer stabbing.
According to police, the cycle of violence between the gangs was broken after the Kaivohuone’s arrests.
Read more: “Biiffs” – Police report violent gangs born in the Helsinki region, confused disbelief on the streets
#Juvenile #delinquency #Street #gangs #Helsinki #Espoo #cycle #violence
