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A haunting message from an 11-year-old boy in Sweden surfaced on Instagram, reading, “Bro, I can’t wait for my first dead body.” This chilling statement sheds light on an increasingly disturbing trend in which gangs are recruiting children too young to be prosecuted, using encrypted messaging apps to transform them into killers-for-hire.
“Stay motivated, it’ll come,” answered his 19-year-old contact.
Authorities in Sweden’s Varmland province uncovered a chilling exchange last year, where an adult offered an 11-year-old 150,000 kronor ($13,680) to carry out a murder. The deal, according to the police investigation reviewed by AFP, included providing clothing and a ride to the crime scene, revealing the disturbing depths of gang exploitation of minors.
Swedish law enforcement has charged four individuals, all in their late teens or early twenties, with recruiting children as young as 11 to join a criminal enterprise. Thankfully, police intervened in time, arresting both the recruiters and the minors, aged 11 to 17, before their planned crimes could materialize.
The early stages of the investigation have unearthed a series of alarming screenshots, with the minors sending pictures of themselves brandishing weapons. Some of these images show them without shirts, while others are obscured by the shadows of hooded masks, reflecting the grim nature of their activities.
The 11-year-old, when questioned by law enforcement, revealed that his message was intended to convey a sense of being “cool” and to mask any signs of fear, aiming to project confidence in an overwhelming situation.
Sweden has struggled to rein in a surge in gang shootings and bombings across the country in recent years, linked to score-settling and battles to control the drug market.
Last year, 53 people were killed in shootings, increasingly in public with innocent victims also dying.
Sweden’s gang crime is organised and complex with gang leaders operating from abroad through intermediaries who use encrypted messaging sites like Telegram, Snapchat and Signal to recruit teens under 15, the age of criminal responsibility.
“It is organised as a kind of (job) market where missions are published on discussion forums, and the people accepting the assignments are increasingly young,” Johan Olsson, the head of the Swedish police’s National Operations Department (NOA), told reporters last month.
Hits are subcontracted with the parties only communicating online, Stockholm University criminology professor Sven Granath told AFP.
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Some prefer face-to-face recruitment, approaching kids who loiter in their communities, preying on their vulnerability and sense of aimlessness.
Data from the Prosecution Authority reveals a troubling increase in murder-related cases in Sweden, with suspects under 15 rising from 31 in the first eight months of 2023 to 102 during the same time frame this year.
Granath explained that the children targeted for recruitment typically face significant challenges, such as struggling academically, grappling with addiction issues, dealing with attention deficit disorders, or having already encountered legal trouble.
He stated that many haven’t even been members of a gang prior to this involvement. They’re recruited to fight in conflicts that have no bearing on their lives—they become mere mercenaries.
