Teens tricked with "bomb bonus" up to €2,000 to place explosives, but were rarely paid

Criminals are recruiting teenagers from across the country to commit explosive attacks, the team leader of an ongoing investigation into 20 explosions in Alkmaar in less than a year told the Telegraaf. The young perpetrators are offered amounts up to 2,000 euros to place and detonate an explosive, but hardly ever see a cent of that.

“It started in the autumn of 2023 with seven attacks in Alkmaar. We soon discovered that there was a conflict between two groups and that they were bombarding each other,” the team leader of investigation Klaver told the newspaper. The Noord-Holland police set up this large-scale investigation team in January when there were three explosions in one day.

They’ve since arrested 15 suspects, between the ages of 14 and 20 years old. They come from all over - Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Hoorn, Zaanstad, and Arnhem.

According to the police officer, these young perpetrators are extremely amateurish, to the extent that six of the 20 Alkmaar explosions happened at the wrong address, targeting innocent civilians. “For example, it concerned an elderly couple and a family. They were terrified.”

The police see these mistakes in the communications they’ve intercepted between the perpetrators and the people who ordered the attacks. “You can see in the communication how they search for a specific sign or other landmark. And we also see that search reflected in surveillance camera images. And they are very brutal: the bombers don’t care that there are cameras.”

The communication also shows how these teenagers are recruited. “There is a client who manages one or more intermediaries. They then arrange the perpetrators. They do this via Telegram or Snapchat or they simply get them off the street via contacts.” The teens are promised amounts between 1,500 and 2,000 euros, but they almost never get paid. The investigation showed that in the 20 explosions, only one young perpetrator got paid. They got 350 euros. “The middlemen seem to be collecting the money,” the police officer said.

“Know what you are getting into,” the team leader warned young people considering taking a job to place an explosive. “You will almost always be caught, receive an unconditional sentence, and won’t see a cent of your money.”

The team arrested three suspected intermediaries last week. “We can link those brokers to a gigantic number of explosions throughout the country,” the officer said. The investigation is ongoing.