Dog smuggling – from isolated cases to organized crime

Swedish customs have never stopped as many dogs as last year. In total, there are 523 objects, most of which were discovered on the border in southern Sweden. One of the reasons for this rise is that more people wanted to buy a dog during the pandemic, which caused the demand to rise exponentially.

A new report from the Swedish Environmental Crime Agency and the Swedish Tax and Customs Agency indicates that there are three actors involved in dog smuggling: individuals, non-profit associations, and people with links to organized crime.

– It is noticeable that people have realized that it is possible to make money from this. It’s organized crime that takes care of and organizes the buying, transporting and then selling in Sweden, says Jonas Karlsson, an expert on Swedish customs.

In the clip, you will hear more about why people with links to organized crime entered the world of dog smuggling.

Suggestions to prevent smuggling

The biggest concern from the authorities is that puppies can carry rabies and thus can infect animals and humans in Sweden. The report addresses several suggestions on how to prevent and combat dog smuggling.

Among other things, they want the Swedish Customs, the Swedish Board of Agriculture and the county administrative boards to have better cooperation in order to be able to share information with each other without hindrances to confidentiality. A comprehensive registry of dogs should also be created so that they can be traced back to birth or import to the current owner.