Dilip Kuner
SEVERAL suspected hitmen allegedly responsible for the murder of well-known businessman Marco Yaqout have been arrested.
Six people – four in Spain and two in the Netherlands – were detained in a joint operation between Spanish and Dutch police.
They are alleged to be ‘guns for hire’ suspected of 10 killings across Europe including the January 2019 slaying of Marco Yaqout outside his Marbella home.
The Spaniard, of Moroccan origin, owned several bars and nightclubs in the upmarket Puerto Banus.
SLAIN: Businessman Marco
His business interests included a share in popular Linekers, set up by Wayne Lineker, brother of England ace Gary Lineker.
The 49-year-old was shot 12 times, trapped inside his Bentley. He had been cornered as he pulled up outside his garage at his villa in Calle Guadiario in the Las Petunias urbanisation in San Pedro de Alcantara.
Spanish National Police arrested four of the gang as they travelled from the Netherlands to Spain, allegedly en route to a new ‘assignment’.
Officers found a semi-automatic pistol with a silencer hidden in their car.
Police sources say that the investigation launched after the hit on Yaquot led them to the Netherlands.
Collaboration with the Dutch police made it possible to identify the members of the suspected hitmen’s organisation, who were mainly based in the Netherlands.
Police claim that the investigated men were working as ‘guns for hire’, selling their deadly services to criminal gangs.
At the end of February, the agents learned that four members of the network were planning a new ‘assignment’, with the target once more in Spain.
The suspects were put under surveillance, and once they entered the country Spanish police moved in. At the same time Dutch officers made two more arrests in The Netherlands.
A police statement said: “The dismantled organisation is one of the most active in Europe, allegedly involved in a total of 10 murders.
“Thanks to rapid police action and close co-operation and co-ordination with the Dutch police, the Policia Nacional officers prevented a new crime from being committed in our country. All those arrested have been remanded in custody.”
