Europol has launched a new Operational Taskforce (OTF) to tackle the rising trend of violence-as-a-service and the recruitment of young perpetrators into serious and organised crime. Known as OTF GRIMM, the Taskforce, led by Sweden, brings together law enforcement authorities from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway, with Europol providing operational support, threat analysis and coordination.

The exploitation of young perpetrators to carry out criminal acts has emerged as a fast-evolving tactic used by organised crime. This trend was underlined in the European Union Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2025 (EU-SOCTA), which identified the deliberate use of youngsters as a way to avoid detection and prosecution.

Recruitment, manipulation, exploitation

Violence-as-a-service refers to the outsourcing of violent acts to criminal service providers — often involving the use of young perpetrators to carry out threats, assaults, or killings for a fee.

Investigations show that these acts are often orchestrated remotely, with young people recruited and instructed online. There is a clear demand from the criminal underworld for youngsters willing to carry out violent tasks — and a supply of vulnerable young people being groomed or coerced into doing so.

Young people are being deliberately targeted and recruited to commit a wide range of crimes — from drug trafficking and cyber-attacks to online fraud and violent extortion. Recruitment is often highly strategic, exploiting vulnerabilities and glamorising a luxurious, violent lifestyle. Social media platforms and messaging apps are used to reach young people through coded language, memes and gamified tasks. In return for money, status or a sense of belonging, they are drawn into criminal schemes that are both violent and transnational.

This is not random – it is calculated. By using young perpetrators, criminal networks seek to reduce their own risk and shield themselves from law enforcement.

Europol is at the heart of this international effort. Through OTF GRIMM, it provides a platform for data analysis, operational coordination, and joint investigations — ensuring that law enforcement across Europe is aligned in tracking, investigating and disrupting VaaS networks.

To support national authorities and raise awareness of this growing threat, Europol has already made public an intelligence notification outlining how criminal networks lure young people into violence and crime. The notification breaks down the recruitment ecosystem — from the use of encrypted messaging apps and social media to lifestyle messaging, manipulation tactics and gamification.

Further updates will be shared as investigations developed under OTF GRIMM progress.

(Source: Europol)