Jan 12, 2026
Violence-as-a-Service - The gig economy for criminals
uropol calls it Violence as a Service. You pay, someone else throws the grenade. And the person throwing it is probably 16. Operation GRIMM just swept up 193 people across eleven countries. But the arrests aren't the story. The story is the online black
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Europol calls it Violence as a Service. You pay, someone else throws the grenade. And the person throwing it is probably 16.
Operation GRIMM just swept up 193 people across eleven countries. But the arrests aren't the story. The story is the online black market that's recruiting teenagers through Discord servers and gaming chats to carry out bombings, shootings, and contract killings. Recruiters building trust for months. Small jobs that turn into big ones. By the time these kids realize what they signed up for, they're in too deep to walk away.
The Netherlands saw over 1,500 explosive attacks last year. Police are finding bombs stored under teenagers' beds. And Europol says minors are now involved in 70 percent of organized criminal markets.
This episode breaks down how the machine works.
