Danish drug market shut down after triple shooting

By Elin Joensson

COPENHAGEN, Denmark

Pusher Street, home to a Danish open-air cannabis market, was cleared by residents Friday after nearby residents made it clear they wanted it shut down.

Friday’s move comes after two police and a civilian were shot Wednesday as officers performed one of their regular drugs sweeps.

One officer was shot in the head during the drug bust and is in a critical condition. The other two individuals suffered minor injuries.

Pusher Street's cannabis market was initially controlled by the mainly self-governing Christiania district’s own residents but was later taken over by criminals.

Danish politicians have repeatedly sought to end dealing on Pusher Street.

Christiania residents established the community in 1971 and a liberal attitude toward soft drugs was present from the beginning.

Shooting

On Thursday, police said in a statement that the shooting suspect -- identified as Mesa Hodzic by local press reports -- was a Danish citizen of Bosnian descent.

Police said he had "ties to [militant group] Millatu Ibrahim and sympathies for [terrorist group] IS [Daesh]," but stressed that there is "currently no evidence" suggesting the shooting was a result of Hodzic’s purported Daesh links.

The gunman was later confronted by police in a residential area near Copenhagen Airport. He was reportedly still armed and was shot by Copenhagen Police’s Special Intervention Unit.

Hodzic was taken to hospital and died of his injuries early Friday morning.

According to Danish news agency Ritzau, the suspect was facing three counts of attempted murder, illegal possession of a firearm and of trafficking 48 kilograms of cannabis, 2.7 kilos of skunk (a strong type of marijuana) and over 1,800 joints before his death.

Criminality

Risenga Manghezi, a spokesman for the Christiania community, told Danish broadcaster TV2 that he condemned the criminality involved in the soft drug market:

“We can remove the [cannabis] stalls but we can’t ensure that they don’t come back,” Manghezi said in a statement Thursday night.

“We need all of Denmark’s help for that. If you support Christiania, stop buying your cannabis here,” he added.

The cannabis trade has prospered for 45 years on Pusher Street and reportedly generates around one billion Danish kronor (over $150 million) in sales each year.