Police in East Flanders have arrested a Belgian man suspected of carrying out a contract killing in Spain when he was 17. The victim, a Dutch national, was shot in a cannabis café, where a shooter was waiting for him. The suspect has been extradited to the Netherlands.
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Belgian teenager extradited to Netherlands over Costa del Sol contract killing
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The killing took place in the Costa del Sol resort of Fuengirola, at a cannabis café where the 25-year-old victim worked. The perpetrator threw away the weapon and fled. Police believe the attack, in December 2024, was related to the drug trade.
At the end of last year, six people were arrested on suspicion of being involved. A seventh suspect was shot dead in the Netherlands as police attempted to arrest him. He opened fire and injured a officer and a bystander before being shot by police.
Among those arrested was an individual identified as SC, who was suspected of carrying out the killing when he was 17. A European arrest warrant was issued and he was detained in Ghent in June 2025, before being extradited to Spain.
SC appeared before a youth court in Malaga and was placed in a closed juvenile detention centre, where he spent nine months while the investigation continued. He was recently released, as minors may not spend more than nine months in pre-trial custody.
The suspect is now 19 and therefore an adult. However, his case falls under juvenile criminal law because he was a minor at the time of the alleged crime.
S.C. appeared before the investigating judge in Ghent on 26 June and was remanded in custody. He was extradited to the Netherlands on 15 July to stand trial.
"We were able to apprehend him thanks to intensive cooperation between the FAST team, the federal police, the Ghent police zone, and the Wetteren-Laarne-Wichelen police zone," the public prosecutor’s office said.