Criminal organizations are now recruiting teenagers online to commit murders in several European countries. This practice, known as "violence as a service," allows perpetrators to outsource their attacks to young operatives who are attracted by money, psychologically vulnerable, or already involved in delinquency. Europol describes it as a veritable "calculated outsourcing of murder."
The Swedish criminal network Foxtrot is suspected of playing a central role in this phenomenon. Since 2022, it has been linked to approximately 35 assassinations, as well as several attacks or attempted attacks targeting Israeli interests. In Stockholm, 18-year-old Atilla Azimov mistakenly shot and killed Murad Abdelkader, a 20-year-old student returning home from work. Recruited for money, the young gunman was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment.
Missions presented like a video game
Recruiters use social media and encrypted messaging apps to advertise their services, arrange travel, and guide those carrying out the hits. Instructions are sometimes given like the stages of a video game, with pseudonyms, maps, and videos showing where to retrieve weapons or money. For example, Norwegian Johannes Natland was sent to the UK to commit a murder for a fee of 270,000 Norwegian kroner (approximately £21,000) before being arrested in a Huddersfield hotel.
The alleged head of Foxtrot, Rawa Majid, is believed to be currently residing in Tehran. Several European security services suspect his network of having carried out operations on behalf of the Iranian regime, particularly against dissidents, journalists, and Israeli interests—allegations Iran regularly denies. A joint Europol unit, comprising eleven countries, including France, is now working to combat this system that transforms vulnerable minors into disposable killers, often arrested before receiving their full payment.
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