- Europol has discovered a new trend of “violence as a service”, where violent crimes are entrusted to young recruits.
- The model, originally from Sweden, has spread all over Europe; OTF-GRIMM Task Force created to disrupt social media recruitment
- In six months, GRIMM arrested 193 suspects (criminals, recruiters, aides, instigators) and confiscated firearms to prevent further attacks.
In the second half of 2025, Europol arrested and detained hundreds of people involved in violence as a service (VaaS).
This strange and dangerous trend, which many would likely compare to old-fashioned “thugs for hire”, appears to have emerged in April this year and revolves around criminals inflicting violence on “young, inexperienced offenders”.
“These individuals have been trained or coerced to commit a range of violent crimes, ranging from threats and torture to murder,” Europol said in a press release.
Hundreds of people were arrested
“Closer cooperation with technology companies is also important to detect and block recruitment activities on social media platforms and prevent these criminal networks from exploiting young people,” Europol said.
According to Europol, the problem originated in Sweden but has now spread throughout Europe. Some criminal networks are even active in several EU countries. In response, law enforcement created the GRIMM Operational Task Force (OTF), whose primary goal is to disrupt the recruitment process, which occurs primarily on social media.
Authorities said most of the recruiting was done through social media, but did not say where or how. It is stated that GRIMM will make greater efforts to curb criminal creators and service providers in the future.
OTF GRIMM consists of specialized investigators from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, as well as experts from Europol and online service providers.
In the first six months of the operation, GRIMM arrested 63 criminals, arrested 40 enablers, arrested 84 recruiters and arrested six instigators (including five key targets).
These suspects were two people arrested in the Netherlands for attempted murder in Germany, three people suspected of murdering three people in the Netherlands and six people (including a minor) suspected of planning a murder. “The operation also enabled the seizure of firearms and ammunition, avoiding a potential tragedy,” Europol said in the press release.