Criminal networks are exploiting video games and mobile phones to recruit and “turn children into weapons,” warns Europol’s Executive Director Catherine De Bolle. She stresses that these networks now represent the single greatest threat to the European Union, destabilizing societies by targeting the most vulnerable—minors.

“What we are witnessing right now on European soil is the weaponization of children by criminal organizations,” she said in a joint interview with Politico and Die Welt. “They use children to torture or to kill. We are no longer talking about petty theft. We are talking about major crimes.”
She cited as “the worst case” the incident of a minor boy who received an order to kill his younger sister—an order that he ultimately carried out.

De Bolle does not rule out the possibility that children and teenagers are also being used—unknowingly—by hostile states as “spies” to record communications near government buildings. As head of an agency that coordinates intelligence and supports national police forces, she describes a landscape of increasing hybrid threats and constant adaptation by organized crime.

She also warns about the impact of artificial intelligence, the explosion of online fraud, and new methods of drug trafficking—such as semi-submersible “narco-submarines” traveling from South America to the coasts of the northern Atlantic, where speedboats collect the cargo.

Recruitment Through Games

According to Europol, criminals first approach children in multiplayer games with chat capabilities. Conversations begin with seemingly harmless topics—pets, school, or family. Then communication moves to a private chat, where they request sensitive personal information such as the child’s home address.
From that point, the child can be coerced or bribed into committing acts of violence, including torture, self-harm, murder, or suicide.

Europol has documented 105 cases of minors involved in violent acts carried out “on demand,” including 10 contract killings. Many murder attempts fail due to the children’s inexperience, but the consequences remain severe.

De Bolle recounts cases where criminals even killed a child’s pet to extort compliance:
“‘You know very well that we know where you live and who you are. You will obey—and if you don’t, we’ll go further, until we kill your mother or your father.’”

Recruitment does not target only vulnerable children. Teenagers with no apparent problems—and even kids who simply “want a pair of expensive shoes”—are targeted. In some cases, minors are used by state actors in hybrid operations to record sound and conversations near sensitive facilities.

Children Who Are Abandoned

When police identify a child, criminal networks immediately abandon them and move to the next target.
“Parents blame themselves. They cannot understand how something like this could happen,” De Bolle notes, emphasizing that the problem is amplified by the lack of parental access to children’s online activities—combined with the desire to respect their privacy.
“As a parent, you must talk to your child about the dangers of the internet.”

Drugs and Artificial Intelligence

In the drug trade, organizations increasingly avoid major northern European ports, instead using semi-submersible vessels to transport cocaine to Portugal, where speedboats pick up the shipment.
Europe, she stresses, is already “flooded with drugs,” but the most lucrative income for criminal networks now comes from online fraud.

Artificial intelligence is “multiplying crime,” she says. “Online scams are skyrocketing, and phishing emails are now indistinguishable—the language is flawless.”
Meanwhile, romance fraud is rising, with users seeking relationships falling victim to deception.
Deepfakes and automated voice systems further complicate investigations, making it difficult for authorities to distinguish reality from fabrication.

The Need for Access to Encrypted Communications

Europol’s chief insists that law-enforcement agencies must be able to access encrypted messages—with judicial authorization—to dismantle criminal networks.
“When a judge decides that we must have access to the data, online service providers should be obliged to grant it,” she says. “Otherwise, we are blind—and we cannot do our job.”

With networks moving toward the industrialization of child recruitment, De Bolle issues a stark warning:
“These children are the future of the European Union. If we lose them, we lose everything.