Young guns for hire - the teenage hitmen recruited to kill across Europe

In a dark Stockholm night, an 18-year-old gunman named Atilla Azimov ambushed a 20-year-old student named Murad Abdelkader. The teenager was out for a McDonald's shift when he was shot multiple times, including a fatal head wound. This incident was not Azimov's intended target, as he had been hired by the Foxtrot Network, a notorious organized crime group reportedly linked to the Iranian regime.

The group is infamous for its "violence-as-a-service" (VaaS) tactics and has been linked to around 35 murders and attacks on Israeli targets across Europe since 2022. Most of these attacks are carried out by teenage hitmen who are recruited through social media, often under a game-like system. The Europol Anti-Trafficking Unit GRIMM, which investigates the VaaS phenomenon, has identified 11 European countries affected by this crime ring, including Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

The leader of Foxtrot, Rawa Majid, has fled to Tehran, Iran, and is now operating from the Iranian capital. Police believe some VaaS attacks have been commissioned by the Iranian regime, such as a grenade attack on the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen. Foxtrot's recruitment tactics involve targeting vulnerable teenagers, often paid in cash, but rarely receiving the promised money due to their frequent apprehension.

Majid's links to the Iranian regime were solidified in October 2023 when he fled to Tehran, as reported by investigative journalist Diamant Salihu. The group's operations have extended to drug turf wars and politically motivated killings, including a planned hit on a 14-year-old son of a Norwegian police officer.