On 3 March 2026, the Dutch Police conducted several house searches in the context of Europol’s Operational Taskforce GRIMM. During this action day, one suspect was arrested.

This person is the alleged driver of two minors who were responsible for a series of explosions in Hessen (Frankfurt am Main and Taunusstein) in July and August 2025, who have been arrested and held in pretrial detention since.

On the German side, the investigations in this case were conducted by the Frankfurt Police (Polizeipräsidium Frankfurt am Main) in cooperation with the Frankfurt Public Prosecutor's Office (Staatsanwaltschaft Frankfurt am Main), with the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) providing support.

Background on Violence-as-a-Service

Violence-as-a-Service (VaaS) involves the outsourcing of violent acts to criminal service providers, who often recruit young individuals using online platforms.

These young people, enticed by money, status, or a sense of belonging, are drawn into violent transnational criminal schemes. To combat this trend, the Operational Taskforce (OTF) GRIMM, composed of eleven European countries, facilitates international cooperation among law enforcement agencies.

The taskforce aims to share intelligence, map VaaS networks, dismantle criminal service providers, and collaborate with tech companies to prevent online recruitment, ensuring a coordinated European response to VaaS and the exploitation of young perpetrators.