Spanish police announced Wednesday, November 20, the arrest of several people who allegedly recruited Swedish and Danish minors to commit murders and attacks with explosive devices.
The operation to dismantle this criminal gang was carried out in collaboration with the Swedish and Danish police and coordinated by EUROPOL and EUROJUST.
According to Spanish police, three Swedes, including a minor, were arrested in Alicante in connection with the network which recruited potential murderers through a Telegram channel.
The operation began in May 2024, with the arrest of a Swedish miner in Benalmádena, in the province of Malaga, who was allegedly recruited by the group operating in Alicante.
After being contacted on the Internet, he traveled to Spain to assassinate the leader of a rival gang. That plan was foiled by police action, authorities said. At the same time and as part of a coordinated action, two other minors, also of Swedish nationality, who had traveled to Denmark with the intention of committing another murder, were arrested in Denmark, according to Danish officials. Spanish police.
The second phase of the operation aimed to locate, identify and arrest the members of the organization who recruited these minors, ordered the murders, managed the arms and drug trafficking and laundered the money.
The investigation revealed that this criminal network included a married couple and their youngest son – based and arrested in Alicante – who played a key role in recruiting and paying other minors responsible for committing the murders.