Michael Tenezos, a 27-year-old Greek-background Swedish man who is linked as a leading figure in the criminal gang Dalen, has been arrested in Mexico off the back of a Europol-led operation.
Tenezos, known by the alias “Greken” (The Greek) was born in Stockholm to Greek immigrant parents, with authorities describing him as a senior member of the criminal organisation, Dalen, as reported in Proto Thema.
Dalen is a splinter group from the Foxtrot gang, led by Rawa Majid, with the two having reportedly waged war on one another and transformed the Swedish capital into the scene of gang violence.
Over 60 people were killed in shootings and bomb attacks within a single year, and the death toll continued to rise the following year.
The violence between the two gangs took its form through explosions, murders, kidnappings, and blackmail.
Tenezos has been described by those who knew him as someone with great athletic promise in his youth, particularly in ice hockey, before eventually entering the world of organised crime.
Giorgos Tenezos, a 72-year-old distant relative, had told Proto Thema in a previous interview about the family’s migration history.
“His grandfather left here about fifty years ago. He built his life in Sweden, and we lost contact. Michael’s parents last visited the village around fifteen years ago, when he was just a little boy. Since then, we haven’t heard from them,” he said.
He added that no one in the village could have imagined that the boy who once played in the yards with other kids would become a name that terrifies Sweden:
“We learned about it all from the TV. No one could believe it. He was just a normal kid.”
