Last Monday, a number of people were evacuated after explosives were found in the garden of a family with children on the east side of Fredrikstad. A 31-year-old Norwegian man has been charged with possession of explosives with intent to commit a serious criminal offence. He denies criminal guilt, according to defense attorney Arbenita Lajqi. On Friday, he was remanded in custody for four weeks with a letter and visiting ban. He must also be isolated from other inmates for the first week. Linked to criminal network The accused 31-year-old has links to a Halden-based criminal network which the police have described as “a danger to democracy”, news’s investigations show. Several central figures in this network were sentenced to long prison sentences last autumn for serious drug crimes, smuggling, fraud, fraud and weapons offences. In the judgment from the Court of Appeal, the now arrested 31-year-old is described as a friend of a 38-year-old Kosovar Albanian. The 38-year-old has been designated as the main man in the network, and was recently sentenced to over ten years in prison. A number of people in the Halden-based network have been convicted several times, both in Norway and Sweden. In 2013, the 31-year-old tried to prevent the police from arresting the network’s main man, court documents news has obtained access to show. Around ten years ago, the 31-year-old was also convicted of smuggling large quantities of alcohol together with another person in the Halden-based network. The police will not comment on whether they believe a criminal network is behind the explosives. – It is still early in the investigation, the police are investigating the case broadly based on various hypotheses, says police attorney Benedicte Granrud. Crime scene technicians at the scene where explosives were found in the garden of a family with children. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news May have been misplaced A Swedish 28-year-old has already been arrested in the case. He also denies criminal guilt. The 28-year-old was arrested at a hotel in Fredrikstad on Wednesday last week, according to news’s information. – There is a connection between them, says police attorney Granrud. She does not want to go into more detail about what kind of connection it is. The police suspect that the explosive charge was placed in the family’s garden by mistake. This hypothesis has been strengthened, according to Granrud. The explosives were found in this garden on the east side of Fredrikstad. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news Several victims It was the family who lives at the address who found the object in the garden, and then notified the police. Later, the bomb squad was called. Kripos is also connected and assists local police in the case. This family has been given the status of offended, writes Fredriksstad Blad. Another person who lives in the same neighborhood has been given the status of offended. Information in the case suggests that this person may have been the target of the bomb, Granrud tells the newspaper. Published 01.11.2024, at 10.20 Updated 01.11.2024, at 17.32
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