They recruited minors online to commit murder: 200 arrests across Europe. The "violence-as-a-service" network was exposed.

The news tells of a Europe that's changing, and not always for the better. Behind computer screens, between video game chats and encrypted Telegram channels, a criminal phenomenon is growing, capable of turning teenagers into hired killers. It's the dark world of violence-as-a-service, an operational model that exploits young people as anonymous labor to carry out assassinations, intimidation, and targeted attacks.
A system that led Europol to launch one of the largest transnational operations in recent years: Operation Grimm, concluded with almost 200 arrests and dozens of foiled murders.

An investigation that brought to light a chilling reality: minors recruited while playing online, manipulated by criminal networks that promise easy money, status, and a role in what is presented as a “mission,” not unlike a game of Fortnite or Counter-Strike.

The shocking phrase that went around Europe

«I can't wait to see my first dead body».
It is not an adult with a criminal past who writes it, but an eleven-year-old Swedish boyThe message, posted on Instagram, was addressed to a nineteen-year-old who was grooming him: a facilitator who had just offered him 14mila U.S. dollars to commit murder. A few hours before the execution, the police intervened.

Yet the case is not isolated. It's just one of the many faces of the new youth-focused organized crime taking hold in Europe.

“Violence for Hire”: An Industrial System of Crime

Europol describes the facility as a real crime company, built on precise roles and an invisible hierarchy.

1. The instigators

They are the ones who order and finance the killings.
They live abroad, often protected by complex jurisdictions.
They pay up to 20mila euros for a murder.
They never meet the perpetrator and do not appear at the crime scene.

2. The recruiters

They operate on social media, gaming platforms, Telegram and Instagram.
They are available 24 hours a day.
Their techniques are reminiscent of marketing:

• gamification,
• social prestige,
• immediate profit,
• crime storytelling.

They turn the crime into a video game with rewards and missions.

3. The facilitators

They organize everything needed for the action:

• weapons,
• means of transport,
• escape routes,
• payments.

They are the logistical cogs of the system.

4. The executors

Almost always minors with no criminal record.
They are chosen because they are “invisible”, difficult to intercept by the police.
They are the expendable pawns: they take the risks while others cash in.

From Fortnite to Murder: Digital Recruitment

According to Malmö police, the recruiters reach the boys directly in their rooms, while they are playing video games.

«11- or 12-year-olds are recruited while playing Fortnite or Counter-Strike. They agree to carry a bag in exchange for 10 in-game points.», explains Stefan Sinteus, chief of police.
The girls, on the other hand, are entrusted with logistical tasks such as booking hotels or arranging taxis.

Violence is surrendered normal, pleasant, engaging.
First small actions, then increasingly dangerous missions, until they end up involving assassinations.

On Telegram, a channel dedicated to the recruitment of underage hitmen counted 11 thousand members before being obscured.
Many of them were willing to travel abroad to participate in criminal activities.

Operation Grimm: 193 arrests in nine countries

Europol launched the operation last April, involving police forces from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Germany, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands,

The six-month balance was impressive: 63 perpetrators arrested, 40 facilitators arrested, 84 recruiters exposed, 6 instigators captured, five considered "high value", in addition to the arrests, dozens of murders have been foiled.

Europol speaks of a “crime machine”, based on an almost industrial division of labor, difficult to dismantle.

The epicenter in Sweden: a social emergency

Although the phenomenon is European, the origin and fastest spread were recorded in Sweden, a country today grappling with the most serious wave of youth crime in its modern history.

The numbers confirm it: 1.700 minors actively involved in criminal networks in 2024; 102 suspects under 15 for homicide in the first eight months of 2024 (there were 31 in 2023); 53 shooting deaths in 2023, many innocent victims.

A context in which recruiters find fertile ground: minors with fragility, learning difficulties, attention deficit disorders, previous convictions for petty crime, or guests of family homes from which they escape every year. 3 thousand girls and boys.

Some reception facilities are even infiltrated by criminal networks that recruit directly within them.

The political debate: lowering the age of criminal responsibility

Faced with an unprecedented crime wave, Sweden is considering drastic reforms.
The most discussed proposal: lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 13.

Furthermore, starting next July, penitentiary institutions will be able to accommodate convicts among the 15 and 17 years, and youth prison capacity will be tripled by 2033.
Other Nordic countries are also considering similar measures.

An emergency that redefines European security

The phenomenon of violence-as-a-service It is the most extreme manifestation of the evolution of digital crime.
It's no longer about street gangs, but about sophisticated transnational networks, capable of infiltrating the most intimate places of youth life: the bedroom, the cell phone, the video games.

Operation Grimm represents a first step, but the real challenge will be prevention: educating young people about the risks, monitoring digital platforms, and strengthening international cooperation.

Because a generation exposed to violence as entertainment risks becoming a recruitable generation.