In Sweden's gang war, child killers recruited on social media

“Brother, I can't wait for my first body” , the 11-year-old boy wrote on Instagram: In Sweden, Very young hitmen escaping criminal sanctions are recruited by gangs via encrypted messaging.

“Be motivated, it will come,” his 19-year-old interlocutor replies.

In the exchange, dated December 16, 2023, the adult promised the child 150,000 crowns (13,000 euros) to commit murder, providing him with clothing and transportation to the crime scene, according to a preliminary investigation report from the Värmland County police (central-west) seen by AFP.

In this case, four men aged 18 to 20 are accused of recruiting four children aged 11 to 17 for a gang. All were arrested before committing the crime.

The preliminary report is riddled with screenshots of young teenagers sending each other “snaps” with handguns, some bare-chested, others hooded.

When questioned by the police, the child admitted to writing the message to appear “cool” and “not to show his fear”.

His case is not isolated.

Sweden has struggled for several years to stem the violence between gangs who are fighting for control of the drug trade through shootings and attacks using improvised explosive devices.

Last year, 53 people were killed in shootings, including innocent victims, in this country of 10.5 million people.

– “Crimefluencers” –

The organization of gangs in Sweden has become more complex: gang leaders operate from abroad through intermediaries who recruit, via encrypted messaging, adolescents under the age of 15, the age of criminal responsibility.

“It is organized into a kind of market where missions are published on discussion forums, and where the executors are increasingly younger,” stressed the national police chief Johan Olsson at a press conference in early October.

The Baronbackarna neighborhood, September 23, 2024 in Örebro, Sweden © AFP – Jonathan NACKSTRAND

There are also crime influencers, such as “crimefluencers” on TikTok, who, beyond exhibiting their criminal lives, facilitate contacts between clients and hitmen, explains to AFP Sven Granath, professor in criminology at Stockholm University.

Between January and August 2023 and the same period in 2024, the number of cases in which children under 15 are suspected of murder, attempted murder and preparation for murder increased from 31 to 102, according to figures from the public prosecutor's office.

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These young people often have difficulties at school, attention disorders, addiction problems or have already had dealings with the law, explains the professor.

“They are recruited in conflicts with which they have no connection, as mercenaries” and without necessarily having been a member of a gang before, he emphasizes.

Children sometimes request such missions, shows a report from the National Council for Crime Prevention (Bra).

“Today, everyone wants to be a murderer. It's incredibly sad to see that this is what young people (in these circles) aspire to,” Viktor Grewe, 25, a former criminal, told AFP. He himself had his first brush with the police at the age of 13.

– “Ruthless exploitation” –

Young people glorify the criminal life, which is widely disseminated on TikTok, he says.

The adrenaline rush, the sense of belonging, the lucrative paycheck: their motivations are multiple.

Police officer Tony Quiroga at police headquarters in Örebro, Sweden, on September 23, 2024 © AFP – Jonathan NACKSTRAND

For Tony Quiroga, a police officer interviewed by AFP in Örebro, a city located 200 km west of Stockholm, this is a “ruthless exploitation of young people who are just starting out in life.”

Gang leaders and middlemen “don't want to risk anything. They hide behind pseudonyms on social media and set up several filters between themselves” and these young hitmen, he says.

In Sweden, children under the age of 15 cannot be convicted of a crime. They are taken care of by social services.

Social workers in the Baronbackarna district of Örebro on September 23, 2024 in Sweden © AFP – Jonathan NACKSTRAND

In Örebro, volunteers travel through the sensitive suburbs in the evening to alert young people about the risk of falling under the control of gangs.

Viktor Grewe, who decided to give up crime at the age of 22, explains that these young people do not believe in the future, convinced that they will not live beyond the age of 25.

According to Bra's report, the indoctrination responds to a business logic. To climb the hierarchy of a criminal network, 15-year-old adolescents must have their own “little ones”.

To attract them, they display camaraderie, branded clothing and promises of rewards, with the leitmotif of unwavering loyalty.

The little one will first be used to deliver a bag, before gradually leading him to more serious tasks with consequences, the report underlines.

Result: the police are faced with conflicts “that never end,” sighs Mr. Quiroga.

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