Swedish teenager aged 18 arrested for murder of surgeon in Marbella in case involving minor hitmen
A teenage Swedish national has been arrested following a fatal shooting of a renowned plastic surgeon in Marbella. The case reflects a growing pattern of criminal gangs recruiting minors through social media to carry out crimes on the Costa del Sol.
Minor hitmen recruited online
An 18-year-old Swede was detained around 18:00 hours on Thursday, approximately 24 hours after the shooting, according to The Olive Press. Doctor Alexander Aslani, a 57-year-old plastic surgeon and founder of the Cirumed clinic, sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the head shortly before 18:00 on Wednesday 7 October when a hooded figure dressed in black entered his practice in eastern Marbella.
The suspect apparently fled on a motorcycle following the attack. Police sources cited by El Español suggest that a patient or someone from her circle may have ordered the crime, leading investigators to review one by one the profiles of female clients of the clinic, including relatives of drug traffickers.
An expanding European pattern
If confirmed that it was a contracted adolescent hitman, the murder would fit a pattern that Europol, the policing agency of the European Union, has been warning about: criminal gangs use social media and messaging applications to recruit minors, frequently from Scandinavia or the Netherlands, and send them to the Costa del Sol to commit crimes in exchange for money.
Until this week, the only murder in Spain linked to an adolescent hitman had been the shooting of a 25-year-old Dutchman outside a cannabis club in Fuengirola where he worked in the early hours of 7 December 2024. The shooter, a Belgian minor at the time, was reportedly contracted in the Netherlands and received a rifle of French origin. The weapon was dumped under a parked car and he escaped by bicycle, although investigators now believe the victim was not the intended target.
Sophisticated recruitment networks
A teenager from Gothenburg was arrested in Benalmádena in 2024 just hours after arriving, still carrying shopping bags and instructions for the crime. In another separate case, a Swedish minor was intercepted last summer riding an electric scooter towards his target in Málaga past midnight.
Both cases were traced back to a 16-year-old from Malmö who operated a recruitment network from his home in Alicante, where his father and stepmother were allegedly involved in the scheme. He was sentenced in July 2025 for recruiting adolescents for murders in Sweden, Denmark and Spain. He used Instagram, Snapchat, Telegram and Signal to attract young people with promises of money and status.
In July, police arrested a Swede in Orihuela accused by Swedish prosecutors of arms trafficking and by Spanish police of supplying weapons and ammunition used in shootings and bombings by gangs in Sweden.
The economics of organised crime
Europol notes that criminal groups now openly advertise murders and shootings on Telegram, Signal and Snapchat, offering quick money to adolescents whilst those giving the orders remain hidden. Málaga police set the typical fee at around 5,000 euros per job.
Senior officers explain that the tactic is deliberate: minors are easier to manipulate, face lighter sentences and put distance between the gangs and the crimes. The strategy has prompted Europol to launch a multinational task force with police from Denmark, Sweden, Belgium and other countries.
In one operation, Danish and Swedish officers arrested seven suspects aged between 14 and 26, including two minors under 18 accused of recruiting other adolescents for crimes.
"Adolescents paid to pull the trigger — this is what organised crime looks like in 2025," declared Andy Kraag, head of Europol's Serious Organised Crime Centre a year ago. Danish police inspector Torben Svarrer was more direct about the reality: "The truth is far less lucrative than promised, and the consequences can be severe."
Source: The Olive Press