Europol task force nets 280 arrests as ‘violence for hire’ spreads across Europe

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An international task force formed to crack down on violence as a criminal service has led to 280 arrests in its first year, the European Union’s police agency, Europol, reported Wednesday.

The arrests underscore a trend across the continent of criminals hiring people — many of them youngsters — via social media and messaging apps to carry out acts of violence ranging from assaults to murders in a chilling form of a gig economy.

“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.

The agency set up the task force last year made up of police from Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In its first 12 months it identified more than 1,400 people linked to violence as a service.

Among suspects arrested were a Dutch national accused of being a getaway driver for two minors allegedly responsible for a string of explosions in Germany in July and August 2025; in January, a minor was arrested in Sweden for alleged involvement in a shooting outside a prison in the Dutch city of Alphen aan den Rijn.

Europol also posted details on a European most-wanted site of three men wanted for alleged involvement in so-called violence-as-a-service networks, two from Sweden and one from Germany. They are wanted for their alleged roles in crimes including murder, drug trafficking and money laundering.