Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
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 consisted of Dutch and Belgian citizens, three Dutch women, who transported the weapon over borders, and the Dutch mastermind, who allegedly ordered killings 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 as police tackle a teenage Swedish hitman in the streets of Spain’s Costa del Sol. Alicante family recruited Scandinavians to commit murders
The Fuengirola Case has been linked with the Mocro Maffia – the Dutch-Moroccan criminal organisation notorious for its contract killings, narcoviolence and other forms of violence throughout Europe.
Although the murder in December was not officially confirmed, it bore the hallmarks for Europe’s largest Mafia: cross-border logistics and weapons of war grade, teenage recruits, as well as international command structures.
In the early morning of 7th December 2024, outside a cannabis bar in Fuengirola, where he worked was an ambush.
The gunman waited for the last customer to leave, wearing black clothing and covering his face. As soon as the victim went outside, the teenager with the assault rifle opened fire on her at point-blank distance.
The victim, who was a club member, tried to close its door. He was then shot and killed on the spot.
Police found the rifle and the shell casings, which were spread across the street. The weapon was thrown under a nearby vehicle, and the killer then fled on his bicycle that he had prepared nearby.
The murder launched a complex investigation by international police that tracked down each individual involved in plot.
Four days later, the 11th of December, Spanish Police arrested one Dutch accomplice 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’
Investigators learned that the teenager shooter changed his appearance, fled Spain and fled to the Netherlands.
Two more suspects were found to have fled from France via the Netherlands.
A few weeks after the Fuengirola murder, one of them was linked to a second murder in Amsterdam. When Dutch police attempted to arrest him, the man opened fire and wounded a passerby as well as a policeman before being shot.
The accused mastermind is a Dutchman who was arrested on 3 January in the Netherlands and is now languishing behind bars in that country, accused of ordering the Fuengirola murders and the Amsterdam murders.
Three Dutch women were arrested on 17 June 2025 in Amsterdam after transporting an assault rifle from Paris to Spain that was used in Fuengirola.
On 20 June, a few days after the shooting, the teenager was arrested in Ghent under a European arrest warrant.
READ MORE Extradition of a teenage fugitive traveling in Spain for a fatal French shooting
On 11 July, he was extradited and sent to a juvenile center in Spain.
Investigators have now considered the police investigation closed. The charges include murder, possessing war weapons and belonging to a criminal group.
Beyond the arrests and the disturbing pattern, this case exposed an international gang recruiting children to be contract killers in the Costa del Sol.
The Olive Press has reported on previous plots that involved Scandinavian teenagers.
A planned assassination was foiled by police in August 2025 after a Swedish child riding an e scooter towards his target at Malaga, Spain at midnight.
In a second case, a young man from Gothenburg who arrived in Benalmadena hours later, still with his shopping bags, and instructions to hit, was arrested.
Both operations exposed the fact that teens are being flown to Spain in order to kill for northern European criminal organizations.
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 and Snapchat to entice young people onto the network. He promised money and fame in exchange for killings.
Criminologists warn gangs to exploit minors as they are better able than adults to reach difficult targets. The masterminds can remain safe.
Europol launched a multinational taskforce recently that included Denmark, Sweden Belgium, The Netherlands and other countries in order to combat the phenomenon.
In one operation, the police of Denmark and Sweden arrested seven suspects between the ages of 14 and 26. This included two 18-year olds who were accused by other minors to recruit them and arrange weapons and safe houses.
Senior officers have said that this tactic is deliberate. Minors can be easily manipulated, receive lighter sentences and are a distance between the gangs’ 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.
Torben Svarrer, a Danish inspector, warned that promises of easy money are lies: “The truth is much less lucrative than what was promised and the consequences could be severe.”
Europol has also urged social media firms to take action, claiming that they possess the technology needed to remove violent material and recruitment advertisements.
Parents are encouraged to look out for warning signals such as sudden changes in behavior or money that is not explained.
Investigators believe that only by working together with police, local communities and technology firms will we be able to stop Europe’s children from becoming hired guns.
Click here to read more Crime & Law News from The Olive Press.
