“Stay motivated, it will happen,” said the 19-year-old male contact.
An investigation by police last year in the western province of Varmland seen by AFP revealed that the man went on to pay 150,000 kronor (about $13,680) for the murder, as well as clothing and transportation to the crime scene. It is said that he provided the child with .
In this case, four men between the ages of 18 and 20 are accused of recruiting four minors between the ages of 11 and 17 into a criminal organization. All were arrested before the crime was committed.
The preliminary investigation included numerous screenshots of young people posing with weapons at each other, some with bare chests and others wearing hooded masks.
When questioned by police, the 11-year-old boy said he wrote the message to seem “cool” and “not show his fear.” This incident is not isolated. Sweden is struggling to contain the proliferation of gang shootings and bombings across the country. In recent years, the country has been linked to battles over score settlement and control of the drug market.
Last year, 53 people were killed in mass shootings, and more and more innocent victims are being killed in public.
“Wanted murderer”
Gang crime in Sweden is organized and complex, with gang leaders using encrypted messaging sites such as Telegram, Snapchat and Signal to recruit young people under the age of criminal responsibility, 15, to foreign countries through intermediaries. It has been active since.
Johan Olsson, head of the Swedish police’s National Operations Directorate (NOA), concluded by telling reporters: “It is organized as a kind of (recruitment) market where assignments are published on discussion forums, and there are many people who accept assignments. They’re getting younger,” he said. month.
Sven Granas, a professor of criminology at Stockholm University, told AFP that hit productions are subcontracted to parties that only communicate online.
Some look for kids hanging out in the neighborhood and recruit them directly.
The number of murder-related cases in Sweden involving suspects under the age of 15 rose from 31 in the first eight months of 2023 to 102 in the same period this year, prosecutors said.
Granas said children who are drafted are often struggling in school, have addictions or attention deficit disorder, or already have trouble with the law.
“They are being recruited into a conflict they have nothing to do with. They are just mercenaries,” he said, adding that they were not necessarily former gang members.
Some children seek out contracts for cash, adrenaline, recognition and a sense of belonging, according to a report by the National Crime Prevention Council.
Experts say they are drawn to flashy clothing and promises of eternal loyalty.
“Everyone wants to be a murderer now,” Viktor Grewe, 25, a former gang member who had his first encounter with police at the age of 13, told AFP.
“It’s very sad to see this being what children aspire to,” he said of some “criminal influencers” who glorify the criminal lifestyle on TikTok.
“Ruthless exploitation”
Tony Quiroga, police chief in Orebro, west of Stockholm, told AFP there was “ruthless exploitation of young people”.
He said criminal subcontractors “don’t want to take any risks themselves” and are therefore protecting both themselves and those up the chain.
“They hide fake names on social media and put some filters between themselves and the perpetrators.”
In Orebro, volunteers patrol the streets of disadvantaged neighborhoods and talk to young people about the dangers of falling under the control of gangs.
Grew, who turned his back on gang activity when he was 22, said young offenders don’t expect to live past the age of 25.
According to a recent BRA report, child recruitment is part of the gang’s business model, where children recruit even younger children, and once they’re in, it’s difficult to get out.
Quiroga despaired that police were fighting a conflict that would “never end.”
