Costa del Sol horror: Swedish mafia uses teen hitmen and orders murders 'like a pizza'. Credit: radoszki/Shutterstock
A caller scary inclination is emerging correct connected nan sunny Costa del Sol: Swedish crime bosses are hiring successful teenagers, sometimes hardly aged capable to drive, arsenic statement killers.
These are nan alleged “baby hitmen” and are being recruited utilizing encrypted messaging apps. And past they’re deployed crossed confederate Spain, according to constabulary sources.
A worrying inclination (and a really sick business model)
So, you’re now surely asking: why spell for minors? The reply is acold and cynical. Because these kids are cheap, disposable and besides daring. According to a constabulary investigator, what would erstwhile costs nan pack €50,000–€60,000, now costs conscionable astir €20,000 to outsource to an underage killer.
This is simply a sadistic business model, particularly arsenic these teenagers aren’t tied into nan pack long-term. This way, nan large bosses stay shielded.
A constabulary officer, cited by El Pais, described 1 ringleader (a 15‑year-old) arsenic “ordering murderers for illustration personification orders a pizza.” That kid utilized Telegram and Signal nether aliases for illustration “Donald Trump” and “The Recruiter” to prosecute different teenagers.
The value for a “baby hitman”
The salary for these young hitmen? Reports opportunity astir €4,000–€5,000 for 1 job. Sometimes they’re promised much than that, up to €20,000–€50,000, but galore extremity up scammed. Or moreover worse, they go trapped successful indebtedness to nan gang.
Recruiters thin into encrypted platforms and apps, because these are much difficult to way by nan police.
Light sentences
And here’s nan kicker: because galore of nan perpetrators are minors, nan ineligible strategy hardly bites. In 1 case, a 15‑year-old ringleader was technically facing a 20‑plus-year condemnation for attempted execution and recruitment. In nan end, he sewage only 2 years successful a juvenile detention centre.
“The sentences are very light, which is why they usage minors for this type of work,” says journalist Diamant Salihu, speaking to El Pais.
Real cases, existent danger
In August 2025, Spanish constabulary arrested 2 young men successful Malaga, 1 of them nether 18, who had allegedly flown successful from Sweden to transportation retired a hit. They were picked up riding an e-scooter, wearing hoods and balaclavas. There’s much to nan story: wrong their rented apartment, officers recovered firearms, 15 phones and 16 SIM cards, fundamentally nan afloat hitman starter kit.
Then there’s nan Fuengirola case: a 17‑year-old allegedly changeable dormant a Dutch nationalist extracurricular a cannabis nine utilizing an battle rifle. Investigators later traced nan limb backmost to Paris and uncovered a full cross-border logistics concatenation involving recruitment and transport.
The sadistic truth is that these crime networks are now treating execution for illustration a commodity. The kids are simply being used, for illustration immoderate disposable instruments. With ray sentencing and debased costs, nan incentives are disturbingly clear. Unless immoderate cross-border practice and tougher juvenile justness betterment ramp up, this type of business seen until now conscionable successful nan movies could emergence moreover more.
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