A jury at the Old Bailey in London on Wednesday found 19-year-old Johannes Kongsnes Natland guilty of conspiracy to murder after he was arrested in West Yorkshire in March 2023 with two working firearms, 19 rounds of ammunition, and £2,000 in cash.
The Norwegian national, who had worked part-time at a pizza restaurant in Stavanger, was recruited by the Foxtrot Network, a Sweden-based organized crime group, to carry out a killing in England for €25,000 (£21,000). According to court documents, Natland had previously messaged his girlfriend that the mission would be 'cool' and that he was 'finally going to kill someone.'
Natland was arrested on March 17, 2023, in a Huddersfield hotel room before he could carry out the planned attack. Police found the weapons and cash hidden in nearby woodlands, with instructions provided via encrypted messaging apps. The prosecution argued that Natland had agreed to the killing without knowing the intended target, which remains unidentified.
The Foxtrot Network: Recruitment and Operations
The Foxtrot Network, led by Swedish-Iraqi national Rawa Majid (39), known as 'the Kurdish Fox,' has been linked to at least 35 murders since 2022, primarily in Sweden. Europol has described the group’s model as 'violence-as-a-service' (VaaS), where teenage recruits are hired to carry out assassinations, arson, and bombings for cash.
Investigations reveal that the gang recruits minors—some as young as 13 years old—through social media platforms, often using gamified instructions reminiscent of video games. Recruits are assigned usernames such as Agent 47 (borrowed from the Hitman franchise) and Generalen, who allegedly coordinated Natland’s travel and logistics. Swedish police have accused Ali Shehad Ahmed, a close associate of Majid, of operating under the username Agent 47.
Natland’s recruitment followed a pattern observed in other cases. He was initially contacted by an online handler identified as Generalen, who offered the killing contract. Natland was then passed to Agent 47, who arranged his travel from Norway to the UK, provided emergency travel documents, and guided him through the process via the encrypted app Signal.
Once in the UK, Natland was directed to stashes containing weapons and cash in Huddersfield. Agent 47 messaged him the night before his arrest: "We have much to do tomorrow." The intended target remains unknown, and counterterrorism detectives are investigating whether the killing was intended as a criminal hit or a politically motivated act linked to Iran.
International Reach and Law Enforcement Response
The Foxtrot Network’s operations extend across 11 European countries, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, and the UK, according to Europol’s Operational Taskforce (OTF) GRIMM. The group has been implicated in attacks on Israeli targets, including two incidents involving explosives and hand grenades.
Europol’s Andy Kraag, head of the European Serious and Organised Crime Centre, has characterized the VaaS model as the 'calculated outsourcing of murder' to vulnerable young people. The system relies on social media recruitment, with handlers often using gamified language to instruct recruits. Most teenage hitmen are caught before completing their missions, reducing the gang’s financial payouts but increasing their notoriety.
In Sweden, the Foxtrot Network has been a major contributor to the country’s surge in gangland violence, with Stockholm and Gothenburg experiencing frequent shootings and bombings. Swedish authorities have linked the group to arson attacks, including a 2021 explosion in Gothenburg’s Annedal district.
Background: Natland’s Path to Recruitment
Court records describe Natland as the son of two journalists in Stavanger, Norway, who had a comfortable upbringing but later struggled with drug use and psychosis. He spent time in rehab and a children’s home, where he met another teenager using the handle UnknownHustler, who initially proposed the killing contract.
Prosecutors argued that Natland’s mental health struggles made him a vulnerable target for recruitment. His girlfriend testified that he had expressed excitement about the mission, messaging her: "I'm going on a crazy mission." Two days later, he left home under the pretense of playing football, boarding a flight to the UK with a one-way ticket.
Natland pleaded guilty to possession of firearms but denied conspiracy to murder, claiming he did not know the full extent of the plan. The jury rejected his defense, finding him guilty of the more serious charge.