A 33-year-old man was arrested on March 4 in Poland after a Swedish prosecutor issued a European arrest warrant, according to police. Aftonbladet reports that the man was arrested on Wednesday, potentially indicating a discrepancy in the reported date. The man is suspected of several cases of serious drug offenses and is considered to have a central role in Malmö's criminal environments.
The exact identity and name of the Swedish man arrested have not been disclosed. The arrest is the result of a long and purposeful cooperation between the Malmö police district, the National Unit against International and Organized Crime, and international partners such as Europol and Eurojust, according to sources. Aftonbladet reports that the arrest occurred after cooperation with, among others, Europol and Polish police.
The suspicions concern several cases of serious and particularly serious drug offenses, though the specific drugs and quantities involved have not been revealed. According to Magnus Pettersson, senior prosecutor at the National Unit against International and Organized Crime, the suspicions involve manufacturing, smuggling, and further distribution of large quantities of drugs. In addition, I currently believe that each of the crimes has constituted a link in an activity conducted in an organized form with the purpose of conducting drug trade on a large scale, Pettersson said.
The investigation continues with several involved, including a previously detained person, Pettersson added. The current legal status and next steps for the Swedish man after his arrest remain unclear, and it is unknown how many other individuals are involved in the ongoing investigation. Meanwhile, Aftonbladet reports that police in a European country have arrested 140 illegal immigrants over the course of a two-day operation.
Officers carried out almost 2,000 checks across the nation as part of a crackdown on wanted people. Officers from the police and Border Guard swooped on addresses across Poland on Monday (March 2) and Tuesday. They targeted places where they believed wanted individuals were hiding and managed to track down 1,944 suspects.
These included 147 foreigners, consisting of 91 Ukrainians, 14 Georgians, eight Belarusians, three Moldovans, two Russians, and 29 people of other nationalities. Of these, 140 were living in the country illegally. According to Marcin Kierwiński, Poland's Interior Minister, 130 proceedings are already underway to return foreign nationals to their home countries.
According to the Polish police, a Brazilian citizen who was wanted for a robbery in 2025 was among those arrested. A Belarusian woman wanted for her role in an organized crime group was also detained. Three similar operations were carried out in Poland last year, which saw 4,766 people arrested, including 515 immigrants.
The country, which is hosting over a million Ukrainian refugees, has seen a surge in migration from the Middle East and Africa since 2021. It is not confirmed whether the arrests of the Swedish man and the 140 illegal immigrants are part of the same police operation in Poland. The Swedish man's age is reported as 33 years old by some sources, while Aftonbladet describes him as in his 30s, indicating a minor discrepancy in the age reporting.
The European arrest warrant system facilitates cross-border judicial cooperation, allowing for the arrest and transfer of suspects between EU member states. Europol and Eurojust support such operations by coordinating intelligence and legal assistance among national authorities. In Poland, recent police actions have focused on combating illegal immigration and organized crime, reflecting broader security challenges in the region.