Norwegian teenager sentenced to 20 years in prison for UK murder plot linked to Iran-linked gang

A Norwegian teenager convicted of traveling to Britain to commit a contract killing for an international criminal gang linked to Iran was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.

Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, was convicted in July of conspiracy to murder for agreeing to shoot an unknown target for 25,000 euros (21,500 pounds) last year. He was arrested at a hotel in Huddersfield, northern England, with two guns and ammunition two days after arriving in the UK.

The target is not known.

Natland, who was working part-time at a pizzeria at the time of his arrest, was recruited by a Swedish organized crime group known as the Foxtrot Network while playing an online game. The group has links to the Iranian government, according to counter-terrorism officers at London’s Metropolitan Police.

Natland admitted to possessing the guns and ammunition, but claimed he did not want to carry out the plan.

“You agreed to be the enforcer and you continued with him, despite numerous opportunities to get away with it,” Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb told his sentencing hearing at Woolwich Crown Court, south-east London.

“While it is important that no one was killed or physically harmed, I am confident that if police intervention had not prevented the plan from unfolding, you would have done what you agreed to.” »

Natland was hired by a 17-year-old known as “Generalen.” Last year, a Norwegian court found the teenager guilty of attempted “contribution to murder” and sentenced him to 14 years in prison. A 16-year-old awaits trial in Norway for his role in the plot.

The British 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 prohibits British companies from managing funds or other economic assets controlled by the organization.