S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the Foxtrot Network has trafficked illicit drugs and carried out attacks on Israelis and Jews in Europe. In January 2024, the network orchestrated an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm on behalf of the Government of Iran.
S. nationals and planning terror attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets in Europe. The Foxtrot Network is one of the most notorious criminal gangs in Sweden, conducting shootings, contract killings, assaults, and drug trafficking.
Rawa Majid has specifically cooperated with the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, according to OFAC. Majid was placed under sanctions by the US and the UK for carrying out attacks for Iran on Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe. Rawa Majid, raised in Sweden by Iraqi-Kurdish parents, is the fugitive leader of the Foxtrot Network and the subject of numerous Swedish charges related to narcotics and firearms trafficking.
He fled Sweden and settled in Turkey, acquiring citizenship through property purchase to avoid extradition. A Swedish prosecutor confirmed Majid has now left Turkey. A friend of Majid was shot on the orders of a rival after helping Majid escape from Turkey to Iran, according to Norwegian court proceedings.
The victim was shot eight times but survived after being lured to Moss, Norway. A former associate of Majid is on trial for the shooting, which he denies. The accused previously worked with the victim to help Majid escape Turkey after a price of up to €4 million was placed on his head by rival Ismail Abdo, who runs the Rumba gang and is known as Strawberry.
Shootings and bombings between Foxtrot and Rumba gangs, often carried out by recruited children, have shattered Sweden's peaceful image. In a police interrogation played in court, the accused revealed how he and the victim helped Majid escape Turkey. Majid initially planned to bribe police to smuggle him into Iraq's Kurdistan region but changed plans due to distrust.
He stayed in a rented apartment in Diyarbakir, Turkey, for three or four days with the two men, and gave the accused a Rolex watch worth about $120,000, $20,000 in cash, and a gold chain as payment. In February 2020, 73-year-old Egon Malmgren had his hair set on fire on a bus. The investigation was initially closed with the motivation that no crime had been committed.
In autumn 2021, a suspect was arrested and a film on his phone showed the hair being set on fire with a lighter. The suspect was identified by police as a known gang criminal. The investigation was reopened and the man was suspected of attempted aggravated assault.
However, in 2025, Nacka District Court dismissed the case because the suspect had already been sentenced for other more serious crimes, including a bombing in Hässelby in 2023. According to SVT's Uppdrag granskning, the investigation was completed and sent to the prosecutor in 2021, with evidence including a mobile video that allowed several police officers to identify a gang criminal linked to the Dalen network as the perpetrator. The prosecutor requested a supplement, but the police never responded and instead deprioritized the case.
The trial for the fire attack was scheduled for May 13 but was postponed to autumn because the defendant is a plaintiff in another case involving gang leader Poya Shafie, who is detained. Shafie planned to murder the young man in western Stockholm in 2023, according to an indictment. A key figure in the Foxtrot network has been extradited to Sweden and is suspected of attempted murder, preparation for murder, serious weapons offenses, and serious narcotics offenses, according to a Prosecution Authority press release.
The extradited leader was arrested in Iraq in autumn 2023 after being internationally wanted. Sweden and Iraq signed an agreement in October focusing on combating cross-border organized crime. So far this year, 210 people have been arrested abroad since being wanted, with a significant proportion being prioritized actors, according to police.
Mikael 'Greken' Tenezos, alleged leader of the Dalen network, was extradited from Mexico. Gang leader Ismail 'Jordgubben' Abdo has been detained in Turkey since July. Poya Shafie, 30, is a leader in the Bro network, allied with Foxtrot, and is on trial in Södertörn District Court from today until June 10.
Shafie has been one of Rawa Majid's closest henchmen and was seen in photos with Majid and Foxtrot's inner circle in Iraq, according to authorities. He was arrested in Iraq in autumn 2023 and extradited to Sweden in October last year. Shafie is charged with three counts of incitement to attempted murder, two counts of preparation for murder, conspiracy to murder, incitement to serious offense against the law on flammable and explosive goods, and serious narcotics offense.
Under the alias 'Hamado', Shafie ordered violent acts via Signal chat groups, carried out by young perpetrators, according to the indictment. He ordered the January 21, 2023 shooting in Enskededalen where two 15-year-olds were told to shoot anyone in an expensive jacket or Gucci cap. In January 2023, Shafie ordered a bomb placed on a balcony in Sundsvall targeting the mother of a Dalen network member, but it was placed on the wrong balcony and was defective; a second attempt also failed.
A then 20-year-old man was sentenced to 18 years in prison for persuading five boys aged 14-15 to commit similar violent crimes on behalf of Foxtrot leader Rawa Majid. Five teenagers are set to appear in court over the alleged attempted murder of dissident Iranian researcher Arvin Khoshnood in Malmö, Sweden. One teenager rang Khoshnood's doorbell armed with a knife on 2 September last year, and his wife opened the door, according to the prosecution charge sheet.
The teenager was recruited via encrypted messaging apps by co-defendants with a promise of payment for killing Khoshnood, prosecutors said. Three of the accused and an unidentified mastermind gave instructions, provided the knife, and negotiated the contract. Three teenagers are charged with attempted murder, and two with complicity.
Khoshnood believes the attack was organized by Foxtrot, whose leader Rawa Majid has ties to the Iranian government. Khoshnood is a supporter of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and regularly appears as an Iran expert in Swedish media. The Swedish security service Sapo has called Iran one of the main threats to Sweden's security and accused Iran of recruiting Swedish gang members for violence against Israeli interests and Iranian opposition figures.
Several of the accused also face charges over an attempted murder in Uddevalla a week after the Khoshnood attempt. The case of Egon Malmgren received significant international attention.