Nearly 200 people — including several minors linked to murder attempts — have been taken into custody over the past six months under Europol’s Operational Taskforce (OTF) GRIMM. The initiative focuses on dismantling what authorities describe as “violence-as-a-service” networks, where criminal groups lure young people online to execute contract killings and other violent attacks.
According to Europol, "These individuals are groomed or coerced into committing a range of violent crimes, from acts of intimidation and torture to murder," the agency said on Monday.
Launched in April, OTF GRIMM brings together specialists from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the UK, and Europol, alongside several online platforms.
In its first half-year, the taskforce reported arresting 63 suspects accused of planning or committing violent offenses, 40 individuals believed to be “enablers” of violence-for-hire operations, 84 recruiters, and six alleged “instigators.” Five of these instigators have been identified by investigators as “high-value targets.” Among those apprehended were three individuals in Sweden and Germany suspected of fatally shooting three victims on March 28 in Oosterhout, the Netherlands.
Authorities also detained two more suspects, aged 26 and 27, in the Netherlands in October for allegedly attempting a murder in Tamm, Germany, on May 12.
On July 1, Spanish police arrested six people — one of them a minor — who were allegedly plotting a murder. Firearms and ammunition were recovered, and investigators believe the operation prevented a “potential tragedy.”
In Denmark, seven individuals aged between 14 and 26 were either arrested or voluntarily surrendered in June. They are accused of using encrypted messaging platforms to recruit teenagers for contract killings.
These cases arise amid what cybersecurity experts describe as a significant rise in Europe-based cybercrime operations that spill into real-world violence. One of the most notable examples occurred in January, when Ledger co-founder David Balland and his wife, Amandine, were kidnapped in Vierzon, France. During the ordeal, their captors severed Balland’s finger while demanding ransom from another Ledger co-founder; the details of the ransom request have not been publicly disclosed.
Many suspects involved in violence-for-hire schemes have been linked to The Com — an informal group of English-speaking hackers, SIM swappers, and extortionists operating across several overlapping criminal networks. The organization’s influence has expanded internationally, prompting the FBI to issue a recent warning.
According to the bureau, a faction known as In Real Life (IRL) Com poses an increasing danger to young people in the U.S. The FBI’s alert highlighted IRL Com groups offering swatting services — incidents in which criminals file fake reports of shootings or bomb threats to provoke armed police responses at victims’ homes.