ANorwegian teenager recruited by a Swedish crime group linked by prosecutors to the Iranian government was sentenced to 20 years’ detention in Britain on Friday.
Johannes Natland, now 19, was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, northern England, in March 2025, with two firearms and ammunition. Prosecutors said the Foxtrot Network, a Swedish organized crime group sanctioned by Britain and the United States, had been used by the Iranian state.
Natland admitted possessing a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver and ammunition but denied conspiring to murder, saying he did not intend to carry out the plan. He was convicted after a retrial in July and sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court in London.
He is among young adults in Britain and elsewhere accused of carrying out serious crimes after being recruited online.
Natland was sentenced to 20 years’ detention and must serve two-thirds of the term, or 13 years and four months, before he can be considered for release.
Natland was recruited online, and a payment of 25,000 euros was suggested, the Metropolitan Police said.
“Natland was clearly being tasked by someone in the Foxtrot Network, an organized criminal group sanctioned by the UK and the US due to its involvement in orchestrating violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of the Iranian regime.” Commander Helen Flanagan said. “The intended target of this specific assassination has never been identified, and we found no evidence of any direct link to Iran in this case.”
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