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An international taskforce formed to crack down on “violence for hire” has led to 280 arrests in its first year, the European Union’s police agency Europol said on Wednesday.
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The arrests underscore a trend across the continent of criminals hiring people, many of them youngsters, via social media and messaging apps to carry out acts of violence ranging from assaults to murders in a chilling form of a gig economy.
“Violence is no longer confined to isolated acts or local dynamics. It is increasingly offered as a service: accessible, scalable and driven by online ecosystems that enable recruitment, coordination, and execution across borders,” Europol said in a statement.
Dubbed “Grimm” and launched in April 2025, the taskforce is a collaboration between Europol and 11 European countries aimed at countering the surge.
In its first 12 months it identified more than 1,400 people linked to violence as a service.
Among the suspects arrested were a Dutch national accused of being a getaway driver for two minors allegedly responsible for a string of explosions in Germany in July and August 2025.
In January, a minor was arrested in Sweden for alleged involvement in a shooting outside a prison in the Dutch city of Alphen aan den Rijn.
Europol also posted details on a European most-wanted site of three men wanted for alleged involvement in so-called violence-as-a-service networks, two from Sweden and one from Germany.
They are wanted for their alleged roles in crimes including murder, drug trafficking and money laundering.
More needs to happen
Police have held meetings with Google, Meta, TikTok and Snapchat in an effort to curb recruitment.
“It’s a positive development. At the same time, there are platforms that still won’t come to the table. More needs to happen,” Theodor Smedius, a superintendent with the National Operations Department of the Swedish police, said.
The phenomenon is a top concern in Sweden, where gangs have increasingly recruited children under the age of criminal responsibility.
Under Swedish law, children under the age of 15 cannot be prosecuted and fall under the responsibility of social services, making them valuable assets to the gangs.
In a separate statement, Europol said that its EU Most Wanted website played a central role in tracking down fugitives and noted that there were three suspects linked to violence-as-a-service crime featured on the platform, two from Sweden and one from Germany.
The Grimm taskforce brings together Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Additional sources • AP, AFP
