‘Ready to murder?’ How criminal networks in Sweden recruit children to kill

It is the summertime of 2024, and a 13-year-old lad has conscionable been added to a backstage Signal radical by a recruiter with a menacing username.

A connection soon appears successful the chat: “Are you acceptable to execution someone?"

Within hours, the chat is filled with caller handles.

They connection the teen mentorship.

The code astatine times is reassuring, promising currency and a consciousness of belonging.

They archer him not to worry, that aft helium carries retired the shooting, helium volition beryllium sent to a peculiar attraction installation for children and teenagers, wherever they volition beryllium capable to get him out.

One idiosyncratic says, “Brother, earlier a occupation it’s mean to consciousness nervous, but aft you occurrence the archetypal changeable you’ll spot everything becomes easy.”

But the messages are besides laced with threats.

The recruiter who had added him to the radical warns the boy, “If you instrumentality the limb and disappear, we volition travel and find you, brother.” He adds that helium would lone get paid “if you deed him - helium has to die”.

He continues with an instruction: “Go down him 1 oregon 2 metres and sprout him 3 oregon 4 times successful the back.”

He past gives him applicable proposal connected handling a weapon, including telling him “don’t play with the trigger”, and sends him instructional YouTube videos connected however to load and sprout a pistol successful a dependable watercourse of messages.

Eventually, the archetypal recruiter and the different users autumn mostly silent, and the exchanges mostly constrictive to conscionable the lad and a user, whom constabulary would aboriginal place arsenic a 25-year-old who was a cardinal fig successful a Stockholm-based gang.

"It's hard now, but aboriginal you'll beryllium a king, brother," helium assured the lad conscionable earlier the planned shooting.

"I volition decorativeness him," came the reply.

Moments later, the lad sent panicked messages. The constabulary oregon information guards were connected the way, helium wrote, arsenic helium begged for a taxi.

The lad had changeable his target, but the antheral had survived.

Only 48 hours had passed betwixt the lad being added to the Signal chat and the shooting.

Police arrested him soon after, but owed to his age, helium was not convicted oregon sentenced.

He was placed successful authorities attraction and remains nether societal services supervision.

When the recruitment process began remains unclear, but investigators believed it apt started erstwhile helium responded to an advertisement - perchance a alleged execution declaration - circulating connected societal media platforms specified arsenic Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram, oregon connected encrypted apps similar Telegram, wherever children are present usually recruited.

In precocious 2024, Telegram unopen down a transmission called Samurai Barnen (Samurai Children), which had amassed astir 11,000 members, aft Swedish constabulary notified the platform.

Screenshots aboriginal published by section media outlets from the transmission amusement however the “murder contracts” appeared.

Murder:

Malmo urgent: 800k-1m ($85,000-107,000)

Gothenburg urgent: 300-400k ($32,000-43,000)

Stockholm urgent: 500k ($53,000)

Denmark: 1 cardinal ($107,000)

Throw a grenade:

Malmo: 30-50k ($3,100-5-300k)

The attacks are often framed arsenic “challenges” oregon “missions”, which the constabulary accidental is simply a “gamification technique" to marque the posts much engaging and little intimidating for children.

The timeframe from a child’s archetypal interaction with a recruiter to carrying retired a convulsive enactment tin scope from a substance of days to a month, Salman Khan, a task manager of an exit programme for children successful gangs astatine Fryshuset, Sweden's largest younker organisation, told Al Jazeera.

“Ten years ago, recruiters would person to spell to a spot wherever kids are physically, but present societal media is the way,” said Khan, who works with a programme called 180 Degrees, which connects children who person been progressive successful transgression with affirmative big relation models who tin assistance them permission that satellite behind.

Khan describes the recruitment process arsenic a signifier of grooming wherever boys, and to a lesser grade girls, arsenic young arsenic 12, who helium says don’t needfully cognize the quality betwixt “play” and the “real life” consequences of carrying retired a convulsive act, are lured into a transgression underworld.

A transcript of a recruitment speech published by the Swedish Police Authority. It reads (excluding emojis and with punctuation added for clarity): 1. Shooter needed NOW NOW NOW. Malmo. EVERTHING READY. Housing, travel, you conscionable person to go. 800,000 2. Is determination a occupation successful Orebro? 3. Just present we have: Denmark 500k, caput changeable 500k, propulsion a grenade 200k, Sweden execution 100k, Sweden propulsion a weaponry 50K, a batch of currency to beryllium earned 4. Looking for a occupation successful Stockholm, conscionable nary execution [screenshot from polisen.se]

In his conversations with children successful SiS facilities, Khan has observed however the relation galore aspire to successful gangs has been inverted successful caller years.

“It has go a presumption happening to beryllium the 1 to propulsion a grenade oregon to sprout idiosyncratic alternatively than beryllium a pack leader. Ten years ago, everyone wanted to beryllium Tony Montana [the fictional transgression brag successful the movie Scarface],” helium explained.

The displacement reflects however societal media and the glamourisation of unit successful fashionable civilization person made instant notoriety much desirable than lasting authority, Khan added.

Carrying retired an onslaught tin springiness the kid a consciousness of validation successful the pack and entree to accelerated wealth that tin get them the "clothes, chains, phones, cars and luxury life" they spot connected societal media and successful tv series.

He utilized the illustration of the fashionable Netflix bid Snabba Cash (Fast Cash), which portrays Sweden’s transgression underworld arsenic a spectacle of guns, wealth and accelerated cars and features teenage characters who enactment arsenic runners for gangs.