Norwegian teenager guilty of travelling to UK to carry out contract killing

Young Norwegian Convicted of International Contract Killing Plot

Old Bailey Jury Delivers Guilty Verdict After Extended Deliberation

Wanderstayfinder.com – A nineteen-year-old from Norway has been convicted of conspiring to commit murder after journeying to England to execute a contract killing arranged by a transnational criminal organization connected to Iranian authorities. Johannes Kongsnes Natland, originally from Stavanger, accepted an offer of €25,000—equivalent to approximately £21,500—to eliminate an unidentified individual during March of the previous year.

Following a retrial at the Old Bailey, jurors spent seventeen hours and six minutes deliberating before reaching their decision. The verdict drew only a subtle blink from Natland, who showed no other visible response. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb ordered that he remain in custody pending his sentencing scheduled for October.

Before his arrest, Natland held part-time employment at a local pizza establishment. He was drawn into the scheme by the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish organized crime syndicate maintaining connections with the Iranian government. According to testimony, the teenager initially believed the murder arrangement was merely a “joke” or “scam,” agreeing to participate primarily to secure funds for his drug habit.

“I’m going on crazy mission,” Natland texted his girlfriend at the time. “It will be a bit cool to kill someone. If I don’t get caught we have to celebrate.”

Once Natland recognized the seriousness of his situation with the Foxtrot Network, he reportedly considered shooting himself in the foot as a way to avoid fulfilling the assassination contract. The intended victim has never been publicly identified by authorities.

Arrest and Evidence Collection

Two days after arriving in Britain armed with firearms, police officers arrested Natland inside a Huddersfield hotel room in West Yorkshire. Officers seized two weapons along with ammunition during the operation. When officers knocked on his door, Natland emerged wearing only boxer shorts and playfully mimed shooting one of the responding officers with his empty hands.

A subsequent search of his accommodation revealed a plastic bag concealed beneath the bed containing a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver, and nineteen rounds of ammunition. During the trial, one of Natland’s acquaintances recounted a conversation in which the defendant boasted that he was “going to get a lot of money and somebody is going to die.” Natland characterized these remarks as bravado, insisting he had been secretly terrified throughout the ordeal.

“I wasn’t an international assassin,” he explained to the court. “I thought people had this impression and expected me to be this guy. I knew I wasn’t.”

Background and Gang Connections

Natland’s journey to the United Kingdom began on March 17, 2025, when he departed from Stavanger for Manchester airport using a temporary passport. Border Force officials detained him in Manchester and granted bail for him to catch a return flight. Rather than departing, he hired a taxi to Huddersfield, where he collected £2,000 in cash, two firearms, ammunition, and a stolen Nissan bearing a counterfeit license plate.

The teenager was ultimately controlled by an English-speaking supervisor known as “Agent 47″—a name referencing both a popular video game and film franchise. His identity and current location remain unknown to investigators.

Prosecutor Alistair Richardson described Natland as “a troubled but dangerous young man. A young man who agreed to kill in a foreign country for money.” The Metropolitan police counter-terrorism division noted that substantial evidence confirmed Natland understood he was being asked to murder someone within the UK.

A talented footballer who began consuming drugs at age thirteen, Natland spent time in a care home where he first encountered a teenage Foxtrot Network member. This connection eventually led him to a recruiter referred to as “Generalen.” Following his arrest, Natland allegedly lied to investigators and attempted to dissuade his girlfriend from providing testimony during their prison phone conversations.

The Foxtrot Network’s Global Reach

Despite numerous high-profile arrests in recent years, the Foxtrot Network continues to dominate Swedish organized crime, accounting for the majority of gang-related violence throughout the country, including mass shootings and homicides. Many of the organization’s principal figures are now believed to be fugitives living abroad.

The gang’s leader, Rawa Majid—nicknamed the Kurdish Fox—remains at large and is thought to be residing in Iran. Consequently, law enforcement efforts to locate these individuals have become international in scope. Police reports indicate that up to thirty Swedes arrested outside Sweden last year maintained connections to the Foxtrot Network.

In June, Poya Shafie, described as the mastermind behind several Foxtrot murders and one of the individuals closest to Majid, received a life sentence in a Swedish court following his arrest in Iraq.