Young guns for hire – the teenage hitmen recruited to kill across Europe
The Foxtrot Network, an organised crime group with links to Iran, has been recruiting teenagers across Europe to carry out killings and attacks for cash, a phenomenon Europol calls "violence-as-a-service". Victims include innocent people caught up in mistaken-identity shootings, while the young hitmen themselves are often quickly caught, meaning the gang rarely has to pay out. Andy Kraag of Europol's European Serious and Organised Crime Centre describes it as the "calculated outsourcing of murder" to vulnerable young people, recruited via social media and given instructions in a "gamified" way resembling computer games.
Since 2022 the network is believed to be behind around 35 murders and several attacks on Israeli targets in Europe, including two involving explosives and grenades. In one case, 18-year-old Atilla Azimov shot dead the wrong man, 20-year-old Murad Abdelkader, in a Stockholm suburb and was jailed for life. This week Norwegian teenager Johannes Natland, 18 at the time of his arrest, was convicted at the Old Bailey of conspiracy to murder over a planned killing near Huddersfield. Foxtrot's leader, Rawa Majid, has fled via Sweden and Turkey to Tehran, where a journalist says he struck a deal to operate attacks on the Iranian regime's behalf; the UK sanctioned Majid and the network in April 2025. Europol's OTF GRIMM taskforce now spans 11 countries tackling the issue.
In short
- Foxtrot Network hires European teenagers to carry out killings for cash
- Linked to about 35 murders since 2022 and attacks on Israeli targets
- Norwegian teen convicted at Old Bailey; leader now based in Tehran
Explained simply
Foxtrot Network is a criminal organisation, believed to have links to Iran, that has been paying teenagers across Europe to carry out shootings, bombings and other attacks on its behalf. Europol has described this as "violence-as-a-service", saying young people are recruited through social media and given instructions in a way that resembles a video game. Because the recruits are often caught quickly, the gang frequently avoids having to pay them at all.
The network is thought to have been involved in around 35 murders since 2022, along with several attacks targeting Israeli interests in Europe. Some killings have gone wrong, hitting the wrong person entirely, while several of the young people involved, some still teenagers, have ended up facing long prison sentences in different countries.
The man believed to lead the network, Rawa Majid, is reported to have left Europe and settled in Iran, and was placed under UK sanctions in 2025. Because the case touches on organised crime, child exploitation and alleged links to a foreign state, police forces in several countries, coordinated through Europol, are now working together to try to disrupt the network.