Six suspected gang members were arrested on Wednesday as police in southern Sweden seized weapons and explosives in a sting operation targeting the Topdogz criminal organization, local newspaper Sydsvenskan reports. The first three arrests came at four o'clock on Wednesday morning when police stopped a vehicle near Harlösa, 40 kilometres north east of Malmö, where the gang is believed to have access to premises. "We found several weapons, ammunition and something that appeared to be explosives," police investigator Per Wejsfelt told news agency TT. The weapons seized included shotguns, pistols and revolvers. Police have sent in the suspected explosive substance for forensic analysis. Details remain scarce about three further arrests in the area on Wednesday evening that also led to weapons seizures. Bravo, the Skåne region's anti-organized crime unit, followed up Wednesday's operation with nighttime raids on addresses connected to the detained suspects, resulting in the recovery of stolen goods "of considerable worth". The Topdogz gang was formed over the course of last year and consists of ninety criminals from around the country. It is led by a 43-year-old former Hells Angels member.



The group denies police suspicions that it functions as the Hells Angels' "war machine" in Sweden, ready to fight side by side with the larger group in the case of conflicts with other gangs, Sydsvenskan reports.