GRIMM tales: Europol’s “violence-as-a-service” taskforce makes 200 arrests

Europol’s operational taskforce OTF GRIMM – founded six months ago to combat the emerging trend of criminals outsourcing violent acts – has made 193 arrests in its first six months. Suspects included a child involved in a murder plot.

Launched in April this year and led by Sweden, the taskforce is designed to mitigate the threat from so-called “violence-as-a-service” groups, which target youngsters to commit an extensive range of crimes on behalf of their “clients.”

They are apparently recruited and instructed online to perpetrate crimes as diverse as drug trafficking, cyberattacks, online fraud, violent extortion, and even murder.

According to OTF GRIMM, the cases in which they have been involved highlight the growing trend of violent acts being commissioned and committed across borders.

The force detailed an attempted murder in Tamm, Germany, in May, which involved the arrest of two suspects in the Netherlands, both in their twenties. A killing in Oosterhout, the Netherlands, meanwhile, involved the arrest of three suspects in Sweden and Germany.

Most shocking was the arrest of a minor and five other suspects in Spain for planning a murder. The same operation also led to the seizure of firearms and ammunition.

Fortunately, statistics released by the taskforce, which has expanded its network across Europe, show that its operations are making headway.

In the last six months, six VaaS ringleaders have been arrested, “including five high-value targets.”

The majority of those OTF GRIMM arrested were recruiters (84) accused of “exploiting vulnerable young people.”

A further 63 people arrested were described as perpetrators of violent crimes, while 40 “enablers” were arrested.

OFT Taskforce next steps

The taskforce said that it would continue to strengthen cross-border intelligence sharing to ensure timely and coordinated action.

OFT has also emphasized that closer cooperation with tech companies was “equally important” to detect and block recruitment activities on social media platforms, to prevent young people from being exploited by these criminal networks.

News of the arrests follows an FBI warning in July about In Real Life (IRL) Com, a subset of the decentralized underground cybercrime crew The Com offering swat-for-hire and violence-as-a-service.

The FBI has called The Com – short for The Community – one of the most urgent online threats to young people.

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