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A 15-year-old Swedish boy has been charged in Australia over an alleged plot to organise contract killings in Sweden and Denmark, authorities have said.
Australian, Danish and Swedish police said the teenager is accused of using an encrypted application to facilitate the plans, in what police allege is part of a transnational “crime-as-a-service” network.
Lars Feldt-Rasmussen, deputy chief superintendent of Denmarkâs National Special Crime Unit, said in a joint statement on Wednesday: “While in Australia, the young man is suspected of having attempted to recruit people to commit contract killings in Denmark and Sweden as part of ongoing gang conflicts in the Nordic region.”
The boy was arrested on Wednesday after police executed a search warrant in western Sydney. He was refused bail in a Children’s Court and is due to reappear on 11 June.
The boy was charged with two counts of “using a device connected to a telecommunications network with intention to commit a serious offence”: one count related to “murder” and the other to “conspiracy to murder”.
Both offences carry a possible life sentence, the statement said.
‘Crime as a service’
The charges follow an Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigation, named Operation Dedric, which launched after receiving information from Danish Police.
Authorities said the case involved “crime-as-a-service” â a model where individuals or groups outsource criminal activity to third parties using online platforms.
AFP commander Brett James said criminals cannot rely on encrypted apps or distance to escape law enforcement detection.
“The AFP regularly works with foreign policing partners, such as the Danish Police, and the identification of these alleged international criminal links is a testament to the enduring partnership and collaboration between our agencies,” he said.
“If you think you can use geography to evade law enforcement, you’re mistaken â the AFP and its partners are always watching, sharing intelligence and ready to apprehend those who wish to harm our communities.”
Danish Police confirmed the boy is a Swedish citizen.
Sweden has struggled in recent years to rein in shootings and bombings linked to conflicts between rival criminal gangs.
The perpetrators are often young teens hired as contract killers because they are under 15, the age of criminal responsibility in Sweden.
Violence linked to Swedish gangs has also been reported in both neighbouring Norway and Denmark.
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