How "Agent 47" Turned European Teenagers Into Real-Life Assassins

Crime gangs in Europe are recruiting teenagers through social media to carry out murders for money, according to Europol. Police say these gangs target young people, promise them huge amounts of cash, and use them as hired killers.

One of the main gangs behind this is Sweden's Foxtrot Network. Police believe the gang has been behind around 35 murders since 2022, according to the BBC. The gang is also accused of carrying out attacks on Israeli targets in Europe and of having alleged links to the Iranian regime.

Teenagers are reportedly offered large sums of money to carry out killings. However, many are arrested before they receive any payment.

One such case involved 18-year-old Atilla Azimov, who shot dead a 20-year-old student in Stockholm in February last year after mistaking him for his intended target. Azimov was later sentenced to life in prison.

Police say Azimov had accepted the job for money. However, like many other teenage hitmen, he never received the payment because he was arrested soon after the crime.

Another teenager, Johannes Natland from Norway, was convicted in the UK this week for plotting a murder in West Yorkshire on behalf of the Foxtrot Network. Police said Natland first received a message that read, "Killing in England 270k." The amount was 270,000 Norwegian kroner, which is around 21,000 pounds.

Another teenager, who used the online name "Generalen", recruited Natland for the job. Generalen was only 16 years old at the time and had also been living in a children's home. Natland was then connected to another gang member who used the online name "Agent 47", a name taken from the popular Hitman video game.

Police believe Agent 47 booked Natland's one-way flight to Manchester and even helped him obtain an emergency passport.

Natland received instructions through the encrypted messaging app Signal. Another gang member, known only as "1", sent him maps and videos showing where guns had been hidden in a forest near Huddersfield. He also received directions to a place where cash had been hidden in bushes near a foot tunnel.

After Natland checked into a hotel, Agent 47 sent him another message saying, "We have much to do tomorrow." But before the attack could happen, British police arrested Natland.

Police say the same teenager, Generalen, also recruited Atilla Azimov and another 17-year-old who shot dead a man in southern Sweden.

The Foxtrot Network is led by Rawa Majid, who fled Sweden and later Turkey. Police believe he is now living in Tehran, Iran.

The UK government imposed sanctions on Majid and the Foxtrot Network in 2025. Europol says organised crime groups are now using a new model called "violence-as-a-service", in which they recruit teenagers online, give them step-by-step instructions, and treat them like players in a video game.

"The regime is ordering the leader of the Foxtrot Network to instigate his network to commit attacks against the Iranian regime's enemies," said Diamant Salihu, an investigative journalist.

Andy Kraag, head of Europol's European Serious and Organised Crime Centre, called it the "calculated outsourcing of murder" to vulnerable young people.

In response, Europol created a special task force called OTF GRIMM, which includes police from 11 European countries. In the last 15 months, the task force has arrested more than 280 suspects.

Among those arrested is Ali Shehad Ahmed, who is believed to be the man using the online name "Agent 47". He was arrested in Iraq, and Sweden has requested his extradition. Police have also arrested Mohamed "Moewgli" Mohdhi, a former rapper whom they describe as an important member of the Foxtrot Network.

However, Rawa Majid remains in Iran and has not been arrested.