Norwegian Teen Convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Murder in UK, Linked to Iranian-Backed Swedish Crime Group

A 19-year-old Norwegian man has been convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in the UK after being contracted by a Swedish crime group that prosecutors said was being used by the Iranian government. Johannes Natland was arrested in March last year, but his target has never been identified. A 17-year-old has been sentenced in Norway in relation to the plot while a 16-year-old is awaiting trial on related charges. A Norwegian teenager has been convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in Britain after being recruited by a Swedish organised crime group that prosecutors said was being used by the Iranian government. Johannes Natland, now 19, was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, northern England, in March last year with two firearms and ammunition in his possession. Prosecutors said Natland had been recruited by the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish organised crime group used by the Iranian state and sanctioned by both Britain and the United States. Natland had admitted possessing a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver and ammunition, but denied conspiracy to murder, saying he did not intend to carry out the plan. After a retrial at London's Old Bailey court, Natland was found guilty of conspiracy to murder. A jury at his initial trial in June could not reach a verdict on that charge. Prosecutors say the intended target of the plot has never been identified. Natland is the latest young adult to stand trial in Britain and elsewhere over serious criminal acts allegedly carried out after being recruited online for money, often as an unwitting proxy for a foreign state. Prosecutor Alistair Richardson told jurors that Natland was recruited by the Foxtrot Network, after someone using the name "Agent 47" organised hiring an assassin with 25,000 euros ($40,000) "in the pot" to pay for it. Natland "neither knew, nor cared who he was to kill … to him, this was all about the money", Mr Richardson said. Footage posted on social media by the UK's Crown Prosecution Service after the conviction showed Natland using his hands to pretend to shoot at officers during his arrest. The vision also shows him walking through woodland to retrieve ammunition and firearms in Huddersfield. During a police raid, which prosecutors said was carried out two days before the planned hit, officials found live ammunition, firearms and cash. Frank Ferguson, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service's Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said the case demonstrated how organised crime networks were operating across borders and using young people. "This conviction sends a clear message: if you come to this country to commit serious violence on behalf of organised criminals, you will be caught and we will make sure you are brought to justice," he said. The CPS said in a statement that a 17-year-old had been convicted and sentenced to 14 years in Norway in relation to recruiting Natland to the conspiracy, while a 16-year-old in Norway was awaiting trial for alleged involvement in the conspiracy.