The Blekinge Street Gang
| The Blekinge Street Gang | |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1972 - 1989 |
| Motives | Financing of PFLP |
| Active region(s) | Denmark, Sweden |
| Ideology | Marxism, Maoism, Third-Worldism |
| Major actions | Robbery, theft, forgery, murder |
| Status | Disbanded in 1989. |
| Size | 5-10 |
The Blekinge Street Gang (Danish: Blekingegadebanden) (December 1972 to May 1989) was a group of about a dozen communist political activists who during the 1970s and 80s committed a number of highly professional robberies in Denmark and sent the money to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The gang's claims to fame were the professionalism of their heists, and the 1989 discovery of a large cache of weapons and explosives in a hideout flat on Blekingegade ("Blekinge Street") giving the gang its press name. The gang referred to themselves as the inner core of three organizations named KAK, KUF and KA/M-KA.
All crimes after 1972 were committed to provide money or weapons to PFLP. In their commission of these crimes, the gang followed some common principles.
During the preparation phase they maintained absolute secrecy; never say anything on the phone, making sure they were not followed, and didn't even tell their closest family what they were doing. Each big heist was usually preceded by months or at least weeks of detailed planning, preparations and surveillance. The surveillance/stakeouts were usually done on foot or from the back of small closed vans. When renting cars, apartments etc. they used stolen identities and false driver licenses, taking care to avoid using the stolen identities in ways that would be noticed by the victim (such as spending the victim's money). They used professional countersurveillance techniques as routine, including spotting of unmarked police cars, evasive driving, calling between payphones etc.
They concealed their identity by always using complete disguises so they could not be recognized. This included masks or theatrical makeup. They did not reveal the political affiliation or motives, viewing them as crimes with a practical goal, not public demonstrations of force or terror. During criminal activity, they never carried any papers with their real names or addresses, in order to give the other gang members time to get away before the police figured out who they arrested. They always used freshly stolen getaway vehicles equipped with previously stolen unrelated license plates.
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Wikipedia