Norwegian woman forced into drug smuggling by Swedish gang now fears for her life

A woman in her 30s from Mid-Norway has gone into hiding after being coerced by a Swedish criminal network into smuggling 16 kilograms of marijuana from Thailand, Dagbladet reports. She now lives in fear of retaliation from the gang, which she says has already targeted others in Trøndelag’s drug circles.

“I was forced to smuggle drugs,” the woman told the newspaper in an interview at an undisclosed location. “I’m terrified of being killed. It’s a horrible feeling.”

The mother of underage children described how her substance use led her to meet a Swedish man at a party in Trondheim—unaware of his ties to organized crime. After initially refusing his offer to travel to Bangkok, she said threats of “fatal consequences” compelled her to board the flight.

Upon arrival, her passport was confiscated, and she was held under surveillance at a hotel near Suvarnabhumi Airport. “It was like being in prison,” she said. “They promised me drugs but gave me nothing.” After a week, she was instructed to return to Norway with a suitcase allegedly containing narcotics worth 3.5 million kroner (approx. €300,000). She claimed ignorance of the contents but was arrested at Oslo’s Gardermoen Airport upon landing.

Following four weeks in pretrial detention, she was released—only to face renewed pressure from the network. “They wanted to send me to Taiwan, claiming I’d help a friend escape prison,” she said. “I knew it was a lie.”

Her ordeal has fractured her family. Her son, fearing gang reprisals, severed contact ahead of his confirmation this spring. “He was too scared to have me there,” she said. “I was dumb and naive. The worst part is losing my child’s trust.”

The woman also described others ensnared by the same Swedish group, including a Trøndelag man who died by suicide after threats and a woman now imprisoned in Gothenburg. “They know exactly who to target—people like me, vulnerable and trapped,” she said.