THREE Swedish nationals have been arrested in Alicante on suspicion they recruited children to commit crimes, including contract killings.
The detainees are said to be a couple and their 15-year-old son.
The Policia Nacional were involved in the operation along with Swedish and Danish police as well as Europol and Eurojust.
The trio are accused of recruiting youths ‘to participate in serious violent acts’ that took place in the spring and summer of 2024 in Denmark and Sweden, according to Swedish prosecutors.
Charges include attempted murder, drug trafficking, extortion, and weapons offences.
The three suspects ran an online ‘criminal cell’ and posted ‘ads offering contract killings’ on an online channel ‘targeting vulnerable youths as young as 13 to 14 years old’, according to Europol.
“The online channel has now been closed, and investigators are working to identify other individuals involved in this network,” it said.
The agency provided digital evidence and coordinated intelligence that helped locate the ring’s administrator in Spain.
“While the recruitment of minors into serious organised crime and terrorism is not new, in recent years it has evolved into a deliberate tactic by criminal networks to evade detection, arrest or prosecution,” Europol said.
Sweden has struggled to rein in a surge in gang shootings and bombings in recent years, often carried out by minors recruited via encrypted messaging services.
In 2023, the Nordic country of 10.5 million people experienced a historic wave of violence linked to score-settling between gangs, with 53 deaths in 363 shootings, according to police.
