EU Currents: Raiding The Den Of Foxes

Background

A long-term manhunt executed by Swedish authorities, in concert with partners abroad, has finally yielded success. Last Tuesday, Swedish police announced that a “central actor” in the Foxtrot crime syndicate was apprehended in Tunisia.

Mohamed “Meowgli” Mohdhi was arrested by Tunisian police and has long been a high-priority target in the overall investigation, as he is reportedly the second-in-command to Rawa Majid. This is the latest success facilitated through Operation Taskforce (OTF) GRIMM.

Niclas Andersson, head of the investigation unit at the National Operations Department, had this to say regarding the arrest: “We consider this to be a strategically important arrest which we believe will impact the criminal network’s ability to carry out violent crime.”

The Rise Of Foxtrot

Foxtrot was formed by Rawa Majid in the late 2010’s in Uppsala, Sweden, where Majid’s parents immigrated in the wake of the Iran-Iraq war. The group initially made headlines smuggling drugs from South America into Sweden via the Oresund Bridge between Sweden and Denmark. 

When rival gangs like Rumba, formed by a close friend of Majid's, were formed, Foxtrot’s activities became more ruthless, as Majid wanted sole control of Sweden’s criminal underworld. This also led to the rise of young, impressionable teens being recruited to do the bidding of criminal organizations, exploiting Sweden’s liberal prosecution statutes.

OTF GRIMM And The Fight Against “Violence-As-A-Service”

OTF GRIMM is a Europol partnership led by Sweden, with assistance from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom; it was organized to counter the epidemic of “violence-as-a-service” (VaaS).

Violence-as-a-service is a scheme where youth with no criminal ties are recruited to commit murder for hire. Recruiters target young teens through social media platforms and apps like Signal or WhatsApp. Promises of belonging, quick money, and tasks made to feel like video game missions also work to draw in vulnerable teens.

This crime epidemic has plagued Sweden for the better part of the last decade, and syndicates based in Stockholm and Uppsala have been linked to dozens of crimes across the nation, ranging from drug-trafficking and cyber-attacks to killings of rival gang members.

“Violence is no longer confined to isolated acts or local dynamics. It is increasingly offered as a service: accessible, scalable, and driven by online ecosystems that enable recruitment, coordination, and execution across borders,” Europol said in a statement marking the first anniversary of OTF GRIMM.

Since its inception in April 2025, OTF GRIMM has arrested more than 280 suspects, including six high-value targets, and identified 14,000 social media accounts linked to VaaS, along with 1,417 individuals connected to acts of VaaS.

Aside from these kinetic actions, Europol has utilized the resources of OTF GRIMM to be proactive when countering the threat that VaaS poses to teens. The agency has sought to raise awareness around the practice of VaaS and has disseminated intelligence briefs to the public, detailing the average recruitment setup and other tactics used by groups like Foxtrot. Europol has also put out a website highlighting the EU’s “Most Wanted”, a resource that has, on its own, led to the arrest of three suspects.

The agency also advanced messaging for parents, imploring them to look out for signs of involvement with VaaS in their children.

In an online awareness guide published last April, Europol offered the following advice to parents who may believe their children are being recruited for VaaS:

“Look out for the subtle signs—sudden behavior changes, expensive new items with no explanation. If your child stops asking for money but seems to have it, that’s not independence—it’s a red flag.”

Additionally, OTF GRIMM works hand-in-hand with tech companies to monitor and prevent social media recruitment for VaaS, along with maintaining a robust intelligence sharing and investigations apparatus across borders.

Foxtrot Losing Ground

Foxtrot has been dealt several losses in the last couple of years, part of a renewed offensive from Swedish authorities to clamp down on violent crime perpetrated by the group. In 2023, Poya Shafie, leader of the Foxtrot-allied Bro Network, was arrested in Iraq.

Shafie was extradited to Sweden last fall, and his trial began last week. Shafie has amassed a long list of charges, including three counts of incitement to attempted murder, two counts of preparation for murder, and incitement to commit a serious crime under the Swedish Explosive and Flammable Goods Act.

Shafie and his legal team have denied the charges.

Another Foxtrot member, Ali Shehab, was also arrested in Iraq last September, another arrest made possible by the cooperation between Sweden’s national police force and their counterparts in Iraq.

These arrests being made in quick succession signal that Sweden has stepped up their intensity of prosecuting those responsible for VaaS after more than a decade of violence and intimidation tactics have played out in Swedish cities.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson confirmed the nation’s resolve in this matter in an interview with TT News Agency after the Mohdhi arrest.

“We will not back down,” Kristersson said. “We will go after them one by one, even abroad, if they are dangerous to people in Sweden.”

Other outside factors may prove to be the downfall of Foxtrot as they are not only competing for influence in Sweden with gangs like Dalen and Rumba, but are attracting the attention of the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom.

Foxtrot: Iranian Proxy?

Last spring, both governments took an interest in Foxtrot, sanctioning the network through asset freezes and a travel ban on Rawa Majid. These actions were taken in part due to Foxtrot’s links to attempted attacks on Israeli targets in Europe, notably the Israeli embassy in Stockholm.

Both governments have opined that Foxtrot has been working as a proxy for Iran, which could upgrade their status from a violent gang to a burgeoning terror organization.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent highlighted the link between the Iranian government and groups like Foxtrot as a way for the regime to achieve its aims “through any means” and further stated that his department would “…continue to hold accountable those who seek to further Iran’s thuggish and destabilizing agenda.”

In a statement made after the United Kingdom enacted its sanctions, Foreign Minister David Lammy had this to say regarding his government’s response to Foxtrot:

 “The UK has targeted this criminal network and its leader, Rawa Majid, due to their involvement in violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of the Iranian regime. The UK will not tolerate these threats.”