A Norwegian teenager has been convicted at London's Old Bailey for traveling to the UK to carry out a contract killing ordered by an Iran-linked Swedish crime network.
Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, from Stavanger, Norway, agreed in March 2025 to shoot an unidentified target in England for €25,000 (about £21,500 or $28,000), according to court proceedings and the Metropolitan Police.
Armed counter-terrorism officers arrested Natland at the Briar Court Hotel in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, two days after his arrival.
They found a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver, and 19 rounds of ammunition hidden under his bed, along with a stolen Nissan with fake license plates nearby.
The plot was facilitated through the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish organized crime group linked to the Iranian government that operates a violence-as-a-service model.
Natland was recruited via the Signal messaging app by a 17-year-old Norwegian handler known as Generalen, supervised by an operative using the alias Agent 47.
Natland flew into Manchester Airport on an emergency passport on March 17, 2025. Border Force officials initially refused him entry but temporarily admitted him due to flight schedules.
He then traveled by taxi to Huddersfield to retrieve cash and weapons left in a wooded area, guided by encrypted chat instructions.
Before his arrest, Natland sent messages and images to acquaintances showing the firearms. He texted his girlfriend, saying, "I'm going on crazy mission.
It will be a bit cool to kill someone. If I don't get caught we have to celebrate."
In his testimony, Natland claimed he only agreed to the contract to pay for drugs and believed the scheme was a joke, planning to inflict a self-inflicted injury to avoid the killing.
He stated, "I wasn't an international assassin. I thought people had this impression and expected me to be this guy.
I knew I wasn't."
Prosecution evidence showed Natland later tried to discourage his girlfriend from testifying during phone calls from prison.
Prosecutor Alistair Richardson said, "The reality is the defendant is a troubled but dangerous young man.
A young man who agreed to kill in a foreign country for money."
The British government previously sanctioned the Foxtrot Network and its fugitive leader, Rawa Majid, for attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets across Europe on behalf of Iran.
Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS special crime and counterterrorism division, noted, "This case shows how organised crime networks operate across borders and exploit young people to carry out serious violence."
Mrs. Justice Cheema-Grubb remanded Natland into custody, with sentencing scheduled for October 2026.
