The Foxtrot Network is suspected of being behind approximately 35 murders, as well as a series of attacks on Israeli targets across Europe, reveals a BBC investigation into this organized crime group.
In a suburb of Stockholm, a man dressed in black emerged from the winter night. Armed with a pistol, he approached Murad Abdelkader, a 20-year-old student returning from a shift at McDonald’s, according to BBC reports.
The assailant opened fire, shooting repeatedly as he closed in on his target. He fired his final shot into the victim’s head while the young man lay helpless on the ground.
The killer was 18-year-old Atilla Azimov. On that February night last year, he ended up killing the wrong person.
Foxtrot Network Ordered Numerous Assassinations
Azimov was motivated by money, having been contracted by the Foxtrot Network, an organized crime group with ties to the Iranian regime. The group is notorious for its “violence as a service” (VaaS) tactics.
Since 2022, the Foxtrot Network has been linked to around 35 murders, as well as several attacks and attempted attacks on Israeli targets in Europe, two of which involved explosives and hand grenades.
The gang recruits adolescents to carry out these attacks in exchange for monetary compensation, though they rarely receive payment as many end up getting caught.
The Case of Johannes Natland
One notable case involves Johannes Natland, a Norwegian teenager convicted this Wednesday of complicity in committing a murder in the UK after being recruited by the Foxtrot Network, according to Reuters.
Now 19, Natland was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, northern England, last March, found in possession of two firearms and ammunition.
Prosecutors stated that Natland had been recruited by the crime organization used by the Iranian state, which is sanctioned by both the UK and the US.
Natland admitted to possessing a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver, and ammunition but denied the conspiracy to murder charge, claiming he did not intend to carry out the plan.
“He Didn’t Care Who He Was Going to Kill”
After a retrial at the Old Bailey court in London, Natland was found guilty of conspiracy to murder. The jury in his initial trial last June was unable to reach a verdict on this charge.
Natland is just the latest young adult prosecuted in the UK and other countries for serious criminal acts they allegedly committed after being recruited online for money, often as unwitting intermediaries for a foreign state.
Prosecutor Alistair Richardson told the jurors that Natland had been recruited by the Foxtrot Network, after an individual using the name “Agent 47” arranged the hiring of a hitman for €25,000. Richardson stated, “He didn’t know or care who he was going to kill… for him, it was all about the money.”
Europol Forms Working Group with 11 Affected Countries
According to the Operational Task Force (OTF) GRIMM, an entity created by Europol to combat this issue, teen assassins are being recruited via social media and are given instructions in a “gamified” manner, mimicking video game mechanics, explains BBC.
Andy Kraag, head of Europol’s European Serious and Organized Crime Centre, described this phenomenon as the “calculated outsourcing of crime” to vulnerable youth.
The OTF GRIMM currently includes 11 countries affected by the VaaS phenomenon: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
Foxtrot Network leader Rawa Majid has fled Sweden and his subsequent operational base in Turkey and is currently believed to be in Tehran, Iran.
Police suspect that some VaaS attacks have been carried out on behalf of the Iranian regime, including a hand grenade attack on the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen, although other attacks are part of the Foxtrot Network’s territorial drug trafficking wars.
