Simon Hunter
A GANG known as ‘Los Suecos’ (The Swedes) admitted in court on Friday their involvement in the killings of two people in the Costa del Sol in 2018.
One of the incidents was the notorious fatal shooting of David Avila, known by his nickname of ‘Maradona’, when he was leaving the first communion of his son.
The other, which took place three months later in August, was the gunning down of Soufian Mohamed outside his house in Estepona.
The admission was made by the prime suspect in the case, Ahmed Abdul Karim, in response to questions in the Malaga Provincial court from the prosecutor.
The rest of the defendants in the case also accepted their involvement in the killings, something they had denied until now, according to Spanish daily El Pais.
The four members of the gang who are accused of carrying out the killings are facing Spain’s equivalent of life imprisonment, while the four accomplices could be sent to jail for as long as 12 years.
The court case is being fast-tracked and is likely to be concluded next week, when a jury will then have to deliver a verdict.
The confessions to the crimes are likely to see the eventual sentences reduced.
David Avila was brutally murdered after leaving church on May 12, 2018, in what police believed at the time to be a drug-related hit.
The businessman, who owned Heaven Beach Club and a gym, was shot three times in the head, once in the chest and once in the shoulder.
Sofian Mohamed, meanwhile, was killed three months later as he emerged from his house at 3.32am on August 20. He was shot nine times from close range, killing him instantly.
Read more:
- Four defendants facing life in prison for execution of Costa del Sol father
- British man arrested as marijuana gang used luxury villas to grow drugs on Spain’s Costa Blanca
