The Underworld Podcast
Episode: Sweden's Brutal Gang Civil War: The Kurdish Fox vs Strawberry
Date: December 23, 2025
Hosts: Danny Gold & Sean Williams
Overview
This episode of The Underworld Podcast delves into the spectacular unraveling of Sweden’s most powerful crime syndicate, the Foxtrot network. Journalists Danny Gold and Sean Williams explore a gangland civil war between two former allies—Rawa Majid (“the Kurdish Fox”) and Ismail Abdo (“Strawberry”)—which plunged Sweden into unprecedented violence, rippled across Europe and the Middle East, and challenged Sweden’s whole approach to crime and social policy. The story encompasses ruthless ambition, child hitmen, wild betrayals, international manhunts, and even ties to state actors and terrorism.
Key Points and Discussion
1. Opening: Black September and the Foxtrot Civil War
[01:01-04:36]
- In September 2023, a 58-year-old woman was assassinated in Uppsala. She turned out to be the mother of Ismail Abdo (“Strawberry”), right-hand man in Foxtrot.
- The murder was allegedly ordered by Rawa Majid (“the Kurdish Fox”), Foxtrot’s founder, after internal tensions and betrayals ripped the gang apart.
- The war quickly descended into unprecedented violence: relatives were targeted, child hitmen were dispatched, and within two weeks, 11 died in what Sweden called “Black September.”
- Host Danny Gold summarizes:
"Relatives become fair game and there are no more rules. Days later, the Kurdish Fox’s mother-in-law is targeted, as is his father. Over the next two weeks, 11 people are killed..." [03:40]
2. Podcaster Banter & Sweden’s Unique Trajectory
[04:49-10:14]
- Danny Gold and Sean Williams joke about sports, Swedish culture (“IKEA bullshit”), and the dark irony of covering Scandinavian gang wars.
- They stress how Sweden is the only European country where fatal shootings have risen since 2000, despite falling rates elsewhere.
- Quote from Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson:
"Sweden has never seen anything like this. No other country in Europe is seeing anything like this." [11:01]
- Sweden considered summoning its military against gangs—“Swedish laws aren't designed for gang wars and child soldiers.”
3. The Kurdish Fox: Origins of a Gangland King
[12:16-18:48]
- Rawa Majid’s Background: Born in Iran to Kurdish parents fleeing Saddam’s crackdown, his mother a Peshmerga fighter.
- Grew up poor in Uppsala—homeless at times, failed integration, but soon fell in with criminal cousins.
- Early crimes: theft, selling drugs, multiple prison stints.
“He was one of a group of young people in Uppsala who took a wrong turn very early. You could talk to some of them... but there were others who you couldn’t even talk to. He was one of them.” — Rawa’s early lawyer [16:56]
- After prison, set up the Foxtrot network, leveraging new gangland dynamics—encrypted chat apps, teenage operatives, transnational reach.
4. Building the Foxtrot Network
[19:34-23:43]
- Foxtrot's rise was built on branding (diamond fox rings, fox-stamped drug shipments), alliances (with Bro and Zero Networks), and modern tech.
- Innovated with recruitment:
“Foxtrot actually perfects the tactic that Death Patrol had pioneered, creating a pipeline of child soldiers who could carry out serious crimes with minimal legal consequences.” [20:32]
- The network had no single 'turf'—spread across Swedish cities, hiring younger and younger hitmen to avoid harsh sentencing.
5. Darkly Modern: Child Hitmen and Social Media Contracts
[29:38-33:19]
- Teenagers—and even pre-teens—find murder-for-hire gigs through Telegram, Snapchat, and Instagram.
- Price lists: €3,000 for a bombing, €50,000 for a murder.
- Chilling exchange from intercepted chats:
“Bro, I can’t wait for my first dead body,” wrote an 11-year-old boy. “Stay motivated, it’ll come,” answered his 19-year-old ‘contact.’ [30:37]
- Swedish prosecutor Lisa Dos Santos:
“Now you can take a gang job on Snapchat.” [30:15]
6. Operation and Expansion
[25:13-27:43]
- Foxtrot operated like a modern multinational: 150kg of drugs moved per week, family-based structure, heavy use of bitcoin and hawala for laundering.
- Sean Williams explains hawala, the trust-based, untraceable money transfer system—$250+ billion moves through it yearly.
7. International Intrigue: Hiding Abroad, Evading Justice
[34:55-36:09]
- The Kurdish Fox relocated to Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, then Turkey, purchasing a “golden passport” that made him legally immune from extradition.
“Turkey does not extradite its citizens. So... he’s basically untouchable to the European police at this point.” — Danny Gold [35:04]
- Even when arrested in Turkey, he managed to bribe or talk his way out.
8. War on Multiple Fronts: Bandidos and Dalen Network
[37:04-43:52]
- Foxtrot’s disputes with the Bandidos motorcycle club escalate into tit-for-tat killings and bombings.
- At the same time, another war erupts with the Dalen Network, run by “the Greek” who flees to Mexico but is later extradited.
- Media report:
“Foxtrot’s local cell relied on teenagers, some as young as 15, broken out of youth facilities and sent north as disposable hitmen...” [43:42]
- The Swedish police begin to intercept and prevent murders, but the war claims many lives on all sides.
9. Social Media Showdowns: Mustafa Benzema Al Jiburi
[45:51-46:48]
- Mustafa was Foxtrot’s third-in-command—he livestreamed from Baghdad, brandishing a gold-plated AK, announcing his new gang (“La Liga”), and mocking rivals.
- Fakes his own death to evade a hit, only to be killed months later by a Swedish teen hitman.
10. Strawberry and the Civil War
[48:58-56:18]
- Ismail “Strawberry” Abdo, Kurdish-Lebanese-Turkish background, laundered money through family strawberry stands.
“There’s always money in the strawberry stand.” — Sean Williams, joking after a police raid [49:53]
- After his mother’s murder allegedly by the Fox, he splinters off to form the “Roomba Network,” igniting an all-out civil war.
- Both sides target rivals’ families, spread carnage to multiple countries, and hire children for murder.
- Both Strawberry and the Kurdish Fox won Turkish “golden citizenship” and ran their networks from abroad, making policework and extradition nearly impossible.
11. From Crime to Terrorism
[51:11-53:21]
- In exile, the Kurdish Fox is arrested in Iran and allegedly aids the regime in attacks on Jews, Israelis, and dissidents in Sweden, in exchange for protection.
- Both Strawberry and Majid are targeted by US and UK terrorism sanctions, not just criminal warrants.
“He’s not being sanctioned for drug dealing. He’s being sanctioned for terrorist acts.” — Danny Gold [52:26]
12. Crackdown, Reforms, and the "Swedish Condition"
[56:18-59:24]
- Swedish authorities finally ramp up: new laws reduce age of criminal responsibility, allow for witness protection, increase deportations, and beef up police budgets.
- But youth involvement in violence is surging—258% increase in under-15s in murder cases in early 2024.
- Gangs adapt, shifting into welfare fraud, local politics, and even running schools and care homes.
- The violence now spills into Denmark and beyond:
“Swedish youths are being anonymously hired through social media for acts of violence in Denmark as though they were Deliveroo drivers.” — Danish criminologist [56:28]
Notable Quotes & Timestamps
- “Some say it starts because the Kurdish Fox gets greedy and starts ripping off his lieutenants... Others say he's just been acting like a maniac, ordering hits left and right... and then comes the unthinkable—a hit on his former partner's mother.” — Danny Gold [02:15]
- “€3,000 to blow up a door in Malmö. €50,000 for a hit in Stockholm. €80,000 for a hit in Malmö at one point...” — Danny Gold [29:43]
- “Bro, I can’t wait for my first dead body.” — 11-year-old in intercepted chat [30:37]
- “Turkey does not extradite its citizens. So the Kurdish Fox, he's basically untouchable...” — Danny Gold [35:04]
- “Everyone puts in work.” — Danny Gold, on Foxtrot’s recruitment [21:13]
- “We have a system where criminals run schools and care homes. We've been too naive.” — Swedish official, via Financial Times [58:10]
Memorable Moments
- The absurdity of social media “murder ads,” with job postings titled “Bombing today” and “Who wants to shoot someone in Stockholm” [30:12]
- Mustafa’s fake-death livestream in Baghdad, complete with balaclavas and an AK-47 [45:51]
- The strawberry stand money-laundering ring—an “Arrested Development” reference from Sean [49:53]
- The international scope: key leaders hiding in Turkey, Iraq, and Mexico; their operatives, teenage hitmen, sent across Europe and the Middle East.
Timestamps of Major Segments
- 01:01 — Cold Open: Foxtrot’s civil war and Black September
- 10:14 — Sweden’s crime trajectory vs. rest of Europe
- 12:16 — Origins of Rawa Majid, the Kurdish Fox
- 20:32 — Foxtrot’s use of child soldiers
- 29:38 — Social media and teenage contract killers
- 34:55 — Kurdish Fox’s international hideouts and near-immunity
- 37:04 — Escalation with Bandidos, tit-for-tat murders
- 43:42 — Dalen Network feud; teenage hitmen in action
- 45:51 — The Live Broadcast from Baghdad: Mustafa’s fake hit
- 48:58 — Strawberry’s role, money laundering, and breaking away
- 51:11 — Gang wars become entangled with state-backed terrorism
- 56:18 — Swedish police reforms, societal impact, and evolving gang tactics
- 59:24 — The new face of organized crime: from contract murder to welfare fraud
Tone & Style
The podcast combines hard-nosed reporting, in-depth storytelling, and gallows humor. Both hosts—especially Sean—frequently joke or make cultural asides, but always return to their core theme of exposing hidden criminal networks and broader societal impacts.
Conclusion
Sweden’s “gangland civil war” between the Kurdish Fox and Strawberry not only shattered an empire but also shredded the distinction between local crime and transnational terrorism, pushing Swedish (and European) institutions to radically rethink both security and social policy. Although both leaders are now in exile or in custody, the weapons, tactics, and networked culture they introduced ensure that organized violence—and the recruitment of ever-younger soldiers—remains Sweden’s “new normal.”