Swedish Crime Group Foxtrot Adds Fuel to Iran’s Proxy War in Europe

(The Soufan Center) As the threat level emanating from Iran and Iran-backed networks increases amidst escalation between the U.S., Iran, and Israel, Iran-sponsored militias and criminal syndicates are increasingly outsourcing plotted attacks to local gangs and “lone wolf” individuals. This tactic has recently been employed by the Swedish organized crime group “Foxtrot,” through the recruitment of an unaffiliated Norwegian teenager to assassinate an unknown target in the UK. In addition to drug and arms trafficking, there is an extensive history of the Foxtrot group carrying out attacks against Iran-designated adversaries, such as Israeli and Jewish targets, across Europe, with an increasing trend of both utilizing unaffiliated youth to carry out attacks and planning cross-border operations. By adding additional intermediaries, Iran and its proxies not only create an extra layer of insulation between Iran and the crime itself, to complicate accountability and attribution, but also challenge law enforcement and intelligence agencies seeking to determine the responsible actor and interdict these very attacks. –  Swedish Crime Group Foxtrot Adds Fuel to Iran’s Proxy War in Europe – The Soufan Center