Children as “living weapons” in the hands of bandits. Terrifying Europol report

Criminals recruit young people through video games and then use them “as weapons to inflict torture and murder,” Catherine De Bolle, executive director of Europol, the EU's police agency, warned in an interview published Friday on Politico.

In a joint interview for Politico and the German daily “Die Welt”, the head of Europol emphasized that Gangsters use young people not only for petty thefts, but also for serious crimes.

– The worst case Europol dealt with involved a young boy who was ordered to kill his younger sister. And so it happened, De Bolle said. “We've never seen anything like this before,” she added.

The head of Europol emphasized that children and young people can also be used by hostile countries and as unwitting spies to implement hybrid threatse.g. for eavesdropping on government buildings.

In De Bolle's opinion, the development of artificial intelligence additionally increases the danger of criminals targeting young people. In this context, the head of Europol mentioned drug smuggling and “the growing threat to European society from the hybrid war waged by Russia.”

Describing the modus operandi of criminals, De Bolle emphasized that often starts with “grooming kids by joining multiplayer games with chat functionality and gaining their trust by talking about harmless topics, such as pets or family life.” She explained that the next step is to join a closed chat, where more serious matters are discussed and start persuading a minor person, for example, to provide personal data. The last stage is an attempt to bribe or blackmail a young person, in which the stake is committing a misdemeanor or crime. The head of Europol noted that it may also be self-harm, and the aim is to persuade a minor to “commit violence”.

De Bolle reported that Europol has information on 105 cases in which minors were used to commit violent crimes. In 10 cases, these were contract killings. The head of Europol also emphasized that many such attempts end in failure because young people “lack appropriate experience.”

In such cases, criminals may resort to acts of violence against minors. De Bolle emphasized that Europol officers had to deal with situations in which gangsters, for example, killed a young man's pet to intimidate him. Another frequently used method of operation of criminal circles is financial gratifications.

The head of Europol emphasized that The main targets of criminals' attacks are children and young people from so-called difficult backgrounds, for example those struggling with psychological problems. However, she noted that the bandits do not know in advance who they are dealing with. As she noted, “it's also about young people who are not at risk, but simply want, for example, new shoes, shoes that are very expensive.”

De Bolle stressed that when gangsters manage to recruit a young man, “parents often blame themselves” and “can't understand how this is possible.”

– “The problem is that you do not have access to everything your child does, and at the same time you respect his or her privacy. But as a parent, you have to talk about the threats coming from the Internet,” emphasized the head of Europol. (PAP)

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