Walter Finch
POLICE swooped in to arrest a Swedish child hitman moments before he was due to carry out a murder in the streets of Malaga.
The teenage killer had flown in from Gothenburg with an adult accomplice just 48 hours earlier on June 29, both sent by a Swedish mafia outfit to carry out the contract killing on the Costa del Sol.
The case has highlighted the return of a disturbing trend in which Scandinavian mafias prey upon vulnerable teenagers and recruit them to murder targets that their own thugs can’t get near.
Spanish police were alerted to their arrival by their Swedish counterparts and immediately began surveillance on the pair.
They watched as the pair cruised through Malaga streets after dark on an electric scooter, both dressed head-to-toe in black, their faces hidden behind balaclavas and masks.
Once it became clear that they were heading to carry out their hit, police made their move and caught them around midnight.
The assassination plot had been carefully orchestrated by Swedish crime bosses who use encrypted messaging and social media to advertise murder contracts for cash.
The organisation provided everything needed for the hit: a safe house in Fuengirola, loaded pistols with serial numbers filed off, and even the scooter for a quick escape.
When police raided their hideout, they discovered two ready-to-fire handguns with ammunition – revealing how close the deadly plan came to being executed.
The weapons were fully prepared, showing the killers were just hours away from striking.
Further probing revealed the hitmen were linked to an established drug trafficking network that had been moving cocaine and marijuana between Sweden and Spain since April – already under police surveillance.
The operation expanded to net four more suspects, including the alleged ringleader, in raids across Fuengirola and Marbella.
Police seized another firearm, along with gloves, balaclavas, masks, 15 mobile phones, 16 SIM cards and extensive criminal documentation.
The adult suspect was remanded in custody while the minor was sent to a secure youth facility.
All six face charges of conspiracy to commit murder, illegal weapons possession and membership of a criminal organisation.
The case exposes how Swedish gangs are increasingly recruiting children for violent crimes in Spain, exploiting minors who face lighter sentences and attract less suspicion than adult killers.
It echoes last year’s shocking arrest of a blonde Swedish youth caught strolling through Benalmadena with shopping bags just hours before he was due to assassinate a biker gang member.
Police discovered he was part of a network run by a Swedish family in Alicante who were grooming teenagers from Sweden and Denmark via Telegram to become contract killers.
The family operated as criminal recruiters, posting contract killing advertisements on encrypted channels to target vulnerable children as young as 13 and 14.
Their 15-year-old son played a key role in the operation, helping to radicalise other teenagers and manage payments while his parents coordinated the murder plots from their Costa Blanca base.
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