Swedish criminal syndicate leaders are reportedly enlisting young individuals as expendable contract killers to execute assassinations in a popular vacation destination frequented by British tourists.
These assassins, dubbed “baby hitmen,” are allegedly being recruited from various areas in Costa Del Sol, a Spanish region encompassing Marbella, Malaga, Fuengirola, and the sun-soaked Puerto Banus. The leaders are purportedly targeting teenagers, local drug users, and other vulnerable individuals whom they can coerce into carrying out their orders for a small fee.
According to authorities, these killers are paid as little as “€4,000 (£3,523) or €5,000 (£4,404)” for their crimes, after being brought in from Nordic countries, some of whom are barely of legal driving age.
Reports from The Olive Press indicate that Spanish law enforcement mentions that these contract killers are compelled to perform tasks, including murders, for criminal organizations after becoming indebted to them. They are then transported to Costa del Sol and other European locations to repay their debts.
The criminal activities are allegedly conducted after the individuals are transported from Sweden or the Netherlands, with some apprehended during the journey. Police have detained three individuals in Costa del Sol for illicit activities, two of whom had intentions to carry out killings, while the third executed a murder following an order from Belgium.
Investigators are now striving to dismantle the mafia hierarchy, but the leaders remain in northern Europe. A police representative informed Olive Press that “The organizations are actually based in other countries. The leaders are in Sweden and they dispatch hitmen for assassinations. The issues there are impacting us here.”
Udyco, the Unidad de Delincuencia contra el Crimen Organizado, is collaborating with other European entities to trace the origins of the orders for the “child soldiers,” with efforts underway in Sweden and Denmark to crackdown on the criminal enterprises. Denmark’s National Special Crime Unit and the Swedish Police have united under the Operational Taskforce (OTF) GRIMM, overseen by Europol, resulting in the arrest of “several” individuals suspected of recruiting others for contract killings.
Earlier this year, Europol disclosed the apprehension of seven individuals aged between 14 and 26 in connection with attempted murders orchestrated via encrypted platforms. Among them, two 18-year-old men in Sweden were taken into custody for allegedly recruiting young individuals to carry out targeted killings in Denmark and Sweden.
Europol highlighted these cases as part of a “growing trend” in Europe, labeling it “violence-as-a-service.” Andy Kraag, the head of Europol’s European Serious Organised Crime Centre, condemned the situation as a “calculated outsourcing of murder.”
Kraag emphasized, “Teenagers being paid to pull the trigger — this is what organized crime looks like in 2025. We are not dealing with petty street crime. This is calculated outsourcing of murder by criminal networks that treat human lives as disposable assets.”
He added, “Through Europol’s OTF GRIMM, law enforcement is tracking down the masterminds and dismantling the infrastructure they hide behind. There is no safe haven — online or offline — for those who trade in violence.”