24 Sep, 2025 @ 15:47
3 mins read

Inside the Dutch ‘Mocro Maffia’ plot that handed a machine gun to a teenage Belgian hitman to kill a weed club worker on the Costa del Sol

A RUTHLESS mafia group’s plot to recruit a Belgian teenager for a hit on the Costa del Sol has been given the terrifying title ‘violence-as-a-service’.

The boy – under 18 at the time – was contracted in the Netherlands, supplied with a military-grade assault rifle smuggled from Paris, and sent to Fuengirola to kill a 25-year-old Dutchman last December. 

The network included Dutch and Belgian nationals, three Dutch women who transported the weapon across borders, and a Dutch mastermind who allegedly ordered the killing from abroad.

According to Europol, criminal groups now openly advertise killings and shootings on encrypted apps such as Telegram, Signal and Snapchat, offering quick money to teenagers – while the masterminds remain in the shadows.

READ MORE: WATCH: Police tackle Swedish teenage hitman on the streets of Spain’s Costa del Sol: Alicante family recruited Scandinavian youths to carry out murders 

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The Fuengirola case has been linked to the feared Mocro Maffia, the Dutch-Moroccan underworld organisation notorious for contract killings and narco violence across Europe. 

While not officially confirmed by police, the December murder bore all of the hallmarks of Europe’s largest mafia group: cross-border logistics, war-grade weapons, teenage recruits, and international command structures.

The victim was ambushed in the early hours of 7 December 2024 outside a cannabis club in Fuengirola where he worked. 

The gunman, dressed in black with his face covered, lay in wait until the last customer left. As the victim stepped outside, the teenager opened fire at point-blank range with an assault rifle.

The victim tried to shut the club’s door but was riddled with bullets and died on the spot. 

Police recovered the rifle and shell casings scattered across the street. The weapon had been dumped under a nearby car, while the killer escaped on a bicycle he had left ready nearby.

The killing kicked off a complex international police investigation that methodically tracked down all the individuals involved in the plot.

Just four days later, on 11 December, Spanish police arrested one of the Dutch accomplices in Torremolinos. 

READ MORE: Sweden’s child killers return to the Costa del Sol: Mafia hit narrowly foiled as teenager ‘e-scootered towards his target at midnight’

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Investigators also learned the teenage shooter had altered his appearance and fled Spain for the Netherlands.

Further investigation showed two more suspects had fled via France to the Netherlands. 

One of them was later linked to another murder in Amsterdam only weeks after the Fuengirola killing. When Dutch police tried to arrest him, he opened fire, wounding a bystander and a police officer before being shot dead.

The alleged mastermind, a Dutch man, was arrested in the Netherlands on 3 January 2025 and is currently languishing in prison there, accused of ordering both the Fuengirola and Amsterdam murders.

On 17 June 2025, three Dutch women were arrested in Amsterdam for transporting the assault rifle used in Fuengirola from Paris to Spain. 

Days later, on 20 June, the teenage shooter himself was finally located and detained in Ghent, Belgium, under a European Arrest Warrant. 

READ MORE: Teenage fugitive travelling in Spain faces extradition over fatal French shooting

He was extradited to Spain on 11 July and placed in a closed juvenile centre.

Investigators now consider the police operation closed, with charges including murder, possession of war weapons, and membership of a criminal organisation.

But beyond the arrests, the case has exposed a growing and disturbing pattern: international gangs recruiting children as contract killers on the Costa del Sol.

The Olive Press has already reported on earlier plots involving Scandinavian teenagers.

 In August 2025, police foiled a planned assassination when a Swedish boy was intercepted riding an e-scooter towards his target in Malaga at midnight. 

In another case, a youth from Gothenburg was arrested in Benalmadena just hours after flying in, still carrying shopping bags and instructions for a hit. 

Both operations showed how teenagers are being flown into Spain to carry out killings on behalf of northern European crime groups.

Both instances trace back to a previous arrest, when a 16-year-old from Malmö was convicted in July 2025 of recruiting other teenagers for hits in Sweden, Denmark and Spain. 

He ran his operation from his home in Alicante, where he lived with his father and stepmother – both of whom were in on the scheme. 

The boy used Instagram, Snapchat, Telegram and Signal to lure youngsters into the network, promising money and status in return for carrying out killings.

Criminologists warn that gangs exploit minors because they are more easily able to approach difficult targets, while the masterminds remain shielded from risk. 

Europol recently launched a multinational taksforce involving Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, and other countries to tackle the phenomenon. 

In one operation, Danish and Swedish police arrested seven suspects aged between 14 and 26, including two 18-year-olds accused of recruiting other minors and arranging weapons and safe houses.

Senior officers say the tactic is deliberate: minors are easier to manipulate, face lighter sentences, and provide distance between the gangs and the killings. 

“Teenagers being paid to pull the trigger – this is what organised crime looks like in 2025,” warned Andy Kraag, head of Europol’s Serious Organised Crime Centre. 

Danish inspector Torben Svarrer cautioned that promises of easy cash are a lie: “The reality is far less lucrative than promised, and the consequences can be severe.”

Europol is also pressing social media companies to step up, arguing they have the technology to remove violent content and recruitment adverts. 

Parents, too, are being urged to watch for warning signs such as unexplained money or sudden changes in behaviour. 

Investigators say only a combined effort from police, communities and tech firms can stop Europe’s children being turned into hired guns.

Click here to read more Crime & Law News from The Olive Press.

Walter Finch

Walter Finch, is the Digital Editor of the Olive Press and occasional roaming photographer who started out at the Daily Mail.
Born in London but having lived in six countries, he is well-travelled and worldly. He studied Philosophy at the University of Birmingham and earned his NCTJ diploma in journalism from London's renowned News Associates during the Covid era.
He got his first break working on the Foreign News desk of the Daily Mail's online arm, where he also helped out on the video desk due to previous experience as a camera operator and filmmaker.
He then decided to escape the confines of London and returned to Spain in 2022, having previously lived in Barcelona for many years.

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