A SERBIAN man shot dead in broad daylight on a busy Barcelona street had been hiding from Belgian authorities after allegedly controlling the flow of cocaine through the port of Antwerp, it has been reported.
Mossos d’Esquadra have established the identity of the man killed on Calle Balmes last Wednesday, ending four days of uncertainty during which his use of multiple false identities had made formal identification exceptionally difficult.
The victim was carrying false documentation, including a South American passport bearing a fictitious name, address and nationality, which he had used to rent accommodation in a residential area of metropolitan Barcelona.
He was subject to a European Arrest Warrant issued by Belgian authorities over his alleged involvement in trafficking large quantities of cocaine from South America through the port of Antwerp.
Spanish news outlet El Periodico, citing unnamed Belgian media reports, describing him as a senior figure in a Balkan drug trafficking organisation.
The man was unarmed and carrying no identification when he was shot once in the head at around 9.50am on June 10, at the corner of Calle Balmes and Granada del Penedes in the upmarket Sant Gervasi district.
He had reportedly just returned from the gym.
A Policia Nacional officer at ID and passport office located right next to the killing gave immediate chase after the shot rang out, joined by a witness. Both were unsuccessful.
The gunman, wearing a beige t-shirt and shorts and carrying a bicycle helmet, fled on foot down Granada del Penedes towards Via Augusta, discarding the weapon, a mobile phone and the helmet at a nearby bus stop.
Investigators are examining the victim’s contacts in Barcelona, including links he had reportedly established with people connected to the sports world, and are seeking to establish how he came to be hiding in the city and whether he had business planned there.
Mossos sources said Europe has overtaken North America as the primary destination market for cocaine, with 98% of seizures now split between Spanish, Belgian and Dutch ports.
They said a saturation of supply had driven prices down, intensifying competition between traffickers to the point of ‘extreme violence’.
The killing is the latest in a sharp surge of gun violence in the Catalan capital.
As The Olive Press has previously reported, there have been at least 30 shootings in Barcelona this year, up 45% on the same period in 2025.
A separate Serbian man, named only as Mario D., was shot several times in the back on Calle Mineria on June 7, four days before the Balmes killing, in what investigators believe was a related score-settling between rival clans.
Barcelona was on heightened security alert at the time of the Balmes shooting due to the visit of Pope Leo XIV, who was in the city for the inauguration of a new tower at the Sagrada Familia.
Authorities confirmed the murder was unrelated to the papal visit. The gunman remains at large.
Click here to read more Barcelona News from The Olive Press.
