Norwegian teenager convicted for his role in murder-for-hire ordered by Iran-linked crime gang
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LONDON (AP) — A Norwegian teenager was convicted in a London court on Wednesday of traveling to Britain to carry out a contract killing on behalf of an international crime gang linked to Iran.
Prosecutors said Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, agreed to shoot an unknown person for 25,000 euros ($28,000) in March last year. But two days after arriving in the UK, he was arrested at a hotel in Huddersfield in northern England with two guns and ammunition.
A jury at Central London Criminal Court found Natland guilty of conspiracy to murder after deliberating for more than 17 hours.
Natland, who was working part-time at a pizza restaurant at the time of his arrest, was recruited by a Swedish organized crime group known as the Foxtrot Network, which has links to the Iranian government, counterterrorism officers from London’s Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement.
“Although the target of the murder plot has never been identified, (counterterror) London officers uncovered a significant amount of evidence demonstrating that Natland was fully aware he was being asked to kill someone in the UK,” the statement said.
Natland was hired by a 17-year-old known as “Generalen.” A court in Norway last year convicted the teenager of attempting to “contribute to murder” and sentenced him to 14 years in custody. A 16-year-old is awaiting trial in Norway for his role in the conspiracy.
The U.K. government last year announced sanctions against Foxtrot Network and its leader “due to their involvement in violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of the Iranian regime.” The sanctions include an asset freeze that bars U.K. businesses from handling funds or other economic assets controlled by the organization.