The Icelandic police force has been conducting an extensive investigation into organized crime and illegal debt collection. Last Wednesday, the police conducted a house search at eight locations and seized drugs and allegedly stolen goods. Six individuals were taken into custody yesterday. Permission has been granted to extend custody over four of these six individuals until March 21. Reykjanes District Court was heavily guarded when the ruling was announced yesterday.

The individuals in question are three men and one woman who are connected to the Icelandic Hells Angels. They are charged with brutally assaulting a woman in her home in the town of Hafnarfjörður. When police arrived at the scene, the woman was unconscious and had been chocked, kicked, hit with a bat, sexually molested and dragged around by her hair, Fréttablaðið reported yesterday.

Visir.is however reported yesterday that the woman has been released but that the men will remain in custody for the four week period. Also, it was not known whether extended custody would be filed for the two other men who were arrested on Wednesday.  

Today, Fréttablaðið reported that five of the six people who were arrested have appealed the ruling on detention to the Supreme Court. Among those arrested is an individual known for unlawful debt collection and a man who was convicted to seven years in prison in 2005 for a brutal assault with an axe.

Stefán Eiríksson, commissioner at the Reykjavík Metropolitan Police, told mbl.is that the police have gained some headway in the fight against organized crime recently. However, according to Stefán, they would get much better results with more funds and manpower and it would possibly even give them the opportunity to control these operations, something that neighboring states cannot even dream of.

HBB