Two former employees at Norrtälje Prison have been detained on suspicion of gross negligence and accepting bribes after smuggling mobile phones to inmates linked to organized crime. A man and a woman were arrested in police raids earlier this week, with additional individuals involved. Prosecutor Ludmila Pronko is leading the investigation into the crimes at the high-security facility.
On Wednesday morning, police conducted raids at multiple locations across the country, arresting four men and one woman. Two of them, a man and a woman who previously worked as prison guards at Norrtälje Prison, were requested to be detained on probable cause suspected of gross negligence and gross acceptance of bribes. They are suspected of allowing themselves to be bribed to smuggle mobile phones to at least two inmates with links to organized crime, one of whom is serving a long prison sentence for involvement in a high-profile murder.
On Friday, the woman was detained on the higher suspicion level for gross acceptance of bribes and negligence. One of the inmates and a third man, suspected of acting from the outside to facilitate the smuggling, were also detained. The two inmates were requested to be detained for instigating gross negligence and gross giving of bribes, but the judge deemed it sufficient that they remain in prison.
Prosecutor Ludmila Pronko stated in a press release: "Two persons who previously worked at Norrtälje Prison are requested to be detained on probable cause suspected of gross negligence and gross acceptance of bribes. I am also requesting three persons to be detained on probable cause suspected of, among other things, gross giving of bribes."
One of the guards denies smuggling phones, while the other has admitted parts of the suspicions. To the detention judge, one said: "I hope I can keep my job so I can pay my bills." Norrtälje Prison is a high-security facility, and the investigation focuses on how the mobile phones enabled criminal activity behind bars.