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Belén Hernández
Tuesday, 25 February 2025, 20:11
A human life costs but a few thousand euros on the dark web. The murder of Arturo Torró, former mayor of Gandía, last week, presumably at the hands of professional assassins as all indications suggest, has once again brought the dark world of contract killings into the public domain. Just a computer and access to a special search engine for entry to the dark web, the labyrinth in which criminal activities are kept hidden, are the tools that allow access to the services of an assassin. "Unfortunately, it is not complicated to hire a hitman," says criminal lawyer Vicente Ibor.
The lawyer, because of his extensive professional experience handling criminal cases involving murder, says that there are two possible ways to commission such a crime: contacting a criminal organisation that specialises in committing this type of crime, for which most seem to come from Eastern European or Latin American countries, or accessing the so-called dark web to find assassins who advertise on this hidden part of the internet.
"Anyone can hire a hitman if they have sufficient financial means and are absolutely evil. You also have to be pretty ignorant of the dangers here because there is a huge risk that the person hired to kill for you will end up reporting you to the authorities," says Vicente Ibor.
The dark web is a hidden part of the internet that cannot be accessed through traditional search engines such as Google or Safari. You have to download a specific browser called Tor and you have to be invited by a person who already has access to the dark web, according to Ibor. Accessing this space opens a door to criminality: from guns-for-hire to paedophiles or drug and arms trafficking.
These criminal groups also have their headquarters, or rather just an office in whichever countries they are based. Under the guise of an ordinary payment collection office, they offer the services of hired assassins, according to another criminal lawyer who has handled several cases involving hitmen and so prefers not to reveal his identity to the press.
He explains that they have a very militarised structure. First, someone comes to Spain to the place where the crime is going to be committed and gathers information about the target victim. They study their schedules, their routines. They take note of when they pass through places with little traffic where there are no security cameras in order to commit the crime with total impunity. If the target does not usually pass through unpopulated places, the criminals "force" the opportune moment. Everything points to the fact that Arturo Torró, who was found dead with a gunshot wound in the chest and strangulation marks on 20 February, had his car's tyres deflated on the A-38. It was no accident. "They wanted him to lower his guard and have to stop in order to kill him," says the criminal lawyer.
The curious thing is that, apart from the murder of the ex-mayor of Gandía, in recent years there have been several crimes committed by hitmen that have remained unsolved. In 2024 three Colombian men were found dead in El Saler. The hypothesis was that the motive was a revenge killing and that the person pulling the trigger was a professional. Another crime in which no arrests have yet been made. "Half an hour after the shooting, they had already left the country and disposed of the murder weapon," says Ibor.
How much is it worth to take a life? Prices for committing murder also fluctuate. Criminal lawyer Vicente Ibor says that there is a very wide price range, but it can vary from 20,000 to 200,000 euros.
"It will also depend a lot on the way the assassins act, their 'professionalism' and who the victim is," says Ibor. In the case of Arturo Torró, as he was a public figure, everything suggests that his murder would have cost more money than that of just an ordinary member of the public, assuming this pricing theory is correct.
As Ibor puts it: "It would be necessary to investigate the enemies he might have had in the business world and not so much in the political sphere, given that he had international business dealings."
Another aspect that puzzles this lawyer is that Torró's murderers apparently used a small calibre weapon to end his life. "This is unusual because, with a small calibre, if the bullet has not hit a vital organ, it is easier for that person's life to be saved," he adds.
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