Travel to a small town outside Stockholm and it is not unusual to see a discreetly parked van, back door open, offloading crates of beer and spirits to a throng of cash-paying customers.

The clientele are not shuffling drunks but well turned-out, middle class Swedes, prepared to break the law to bypass the high prices at Systembolaget, the state-owned alcohol monopoly, known by its Stalinist nickname “Systemet” – or “The System”.