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A 19-year-old from Norway has been convicted of conspiracy to murder after travelling to the UK to carry out a contract killing on behalf of a Swedish organised crime syndicate. Johannes Natland was apprehended in a Huddersfield hotel room in March 2025, where police discovered two loaded firearms and 19 rounds of live ammunition. While he admitted to possessing the weapons, he denied involvement in the murder conspiracy.
During the retrial at the Old Bailey, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict after deliberating for over 17 hours, with Natland showing no visible reaction. Prosecutor Alistair Richardson explained that Natland had been recruited by the Foxtrot Network, an organisation linked to the Iranian regime, which operates in Sweden. Natland claimed he intended to sabotage the mission by shooting himself in the foot instead of carrying out the assassination, describing his situation as being in “a major pickle.” Authorities detailed how the Foxtrot Network has been sanctioned by both the UK and the US due to its ties with the Iranian government and noted that the group is notorious for offering teenage assassins through a model dubbed “violence-as-a-service” (VaaS) by Europol.
Further investigation revealed that another Foxtrot operative, known as Generalen, was convicted in Norway earlier this year for multiple attempted murders and arson attacks linked to the same criminal network. Generalen was also found guilty for involvement in two killings in Sweden—Ahmed Zamzam, who was shot at Lund Central Station in January 2024, and Murad Abdelkader, killed in Stockholm’s Alby suburb shortly afterward. During his trial, Generalen admitted to orchestrating Abdelkader’s murder, directing the gunman to shoot the victim multiple times, though he claimed the wrong person had been targeted. Swedish police identified Generalen’s Foxtrot mentor as “Agent 47,” believed to be Ali Shehab Ahmed, who was arrested in Iraq late last year and awaits extradition. Agent 47 is described as a central figure within the Foxtrot Network and closely associated with its leader, Rawa Majid.
Natland’s background provides context to his involvement with Foxtrot. Raised in Stavanger, Norway, the son of journalists and a once-promising footballer, he fell into drug addiction by age 13 and ultimately experienced drug-induced psychosis that led to psychiatric treatment. He met one of his recruiters, a teenager named UnknownHustler, in a youth home for troubled children. On 15 March 2025, UnknownHustler sent him an encrypted Foxtrot message offering £21,000 for a killing in England, with promises that police would be bribed to ignore the crime and the assassin smuggled out of the country. Natland was added to a group chat named “Assassin EU,” alongside Generalen and Agent 47. Within days, Agent 47 booked Natland a one-way flight from Stavanger to Manchester, where Border Force officers allowed his temporary entry despite suspicions surrounding his emergency passport and lack of travel plans.
Upon arrival, Natland was directed by Agent 47 and another contact known as “1” to retrieve cash hidden near a footpath tunnel before traveling to Huddersfield. There, he collected firearms and ammunition concealed in woodland and checked into a hotel. Despite not knowing his precise target, he sent videos and photos flaunting the guns and payment to friends. Messages from Agent 47 assured him the payment would be made once the mission was completed. Meanwhile, Generalen had been arrested in Oslo, and police found messages about the planned assassination in England, prompting UK Counter Terrorism Policing to intervene. Early on 19 March 2025, Natland was arrested at the hotel. When confronted, he made a mocking gesture toward officers before being restrained. He remains in custody ahead of sentencing scheduled for October, as ordered by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb
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