LONDON, Aug. 3: A transnational criminal organization known as the Foxtrot network is recruiting teenagers to carry out contract killings across Europe by using social media and game-style instructions, according to European investigators.
Authorities say young recruits are directed online to collect hidden weapons and cash before carrying out targeted attacks. Many are allegedly lured with promises of payment but receive little or no money after being arrested.
The network gained renewed attention after 18-year-old Attila Azimov mistakenly shot and killed the wrong person in a Stockholm suburb last year.
Swedish broadcaster SVT reported that Foxtrot leader Rawa Majid is operating from Tehran and that the group has allegedly carried out attacks against opponents of Iran’s ruling establishment and Israeli-linked targets.
The case is being investigated by OTF GRIMM, a Europol-led joint task force involving law enforcement agencies from 11 countries. Investigators say the gang recruits minors through TikTok and other social media platforms, presenting criminal assignments in a format resembling video games.
In a recent case in the United Kingdom, Norwegian teenager Johannes Natland and a 16-year-old suspect accused of recruiting him were arrested over an alleged politically motivated assassination plot in Huddersfield.
Andy Kraag, head of Europol’s European Serious and Organised Crime Centre, described the trend as the “systematic use of minors to commit murders.”
Police have made more than 280 arrests over the past 15 months, including alleged coordinator Ali Shehad Ahmed, known by the alias “Agent-47,” and former rapper Mohamed Modhi.
However, investigators say Rawa Majid remains beyond the reach of European authorities in Iran, while rival gangs such as the Dalen network have adopted similar recruitment tactics, raising concerns that the threat of teenage contract killers will continue.
Source: BBC
