Crime
Sections
Highlight
Sections
Highlight
He hardly ever left the house. He spent his life in his room, surrounded by his computer and his "devices". From that screen, he managed - so the police believe - a network of underage hitmen whom he sent anywhere in the world to carry out the orders he received. Investigators had on their radar an adult criminal based in Alicante with apparent connections to organised crime. But, to their surprise, it was not him on the other side of the screen, but his son, a teenager aged just 14.
The investigation began with another minor, in this case a 17-year-old, who police detected in Benalmádena in May. The officers discovered that he had landed on the Costa del Sol from Sweden and that a week after arriving he dyed his hair and changed his physical appearance. Plainclothes police discreetly followed his movements and discovered that he had taken possession of an electric scooter, which he used to move around the locality, although in the days prior to his arrest he focused on a particular housing estate. He appeared to be studying the streets and possible escape routes.
The three-way joint investigation between Greco-Costa del Sol, Udyco Central and Udyco-Costa del Sol, would later reveal that its target was a member of a Swedish biker gang for whose head someone had paid - or promised - a sum of money.
The officers found no weapons on the youngster when he was arrested. Police believe that the network that recruited him was about to send him the submachine gun with which he would carry out the execution, and that he was going to make his escape on the electric scooter that was confiscated from him. The plan was thwarted when the police operation, named Carrusel-Tívoli, was hastily put into action.
The police then located the heart of the network, a family living in San Juan (Alicante) who allegedly ran a 'collection office' or hit squad fully composed of minors who had been recruited through a Telegram channel in Sweden and Denmark.
Investigators believe that the father of the family, a man of Swedish nationality, although born in Eastern Europe, was the one who created a client network between the different criminal organisations with which he maintained contacts. When they received an order, he allegedly organised, together with his wife and son, the whole operation to focus on the target and provide the information - basically, a photo and the location - to a recruited minor to carry out the settling of scores using weapons or explosive devices. The price, according to sources in the investigation, ranged between 20,000 and 50,000 euros.
The operation was then coordinated through Europol and Eurojust. When Spanish police officers contacted their Nordic counterparts, they confirmed that the organisation allegedly even employed 13-year-olds who had dropped their weapons on the floor as they tried to commit the crimes they had been commissioned to carry out.
In parallel to the arrests of the couple and their son in Alicante, investigators arrested two other minors in Denmark, also of Nordic origin, who had travelled to that country allegedly with the intention of committing another murder. Two firearms were seized from these teenagers.
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Publicidad
Reporta un error en esta noticia
Necesitas ser suscriptor para poder votar.