The Kinahan Cartel has been accused of hatching a plot to "hunt and kill" a pair of British teenage twins in Cyprus, it has emerged. Senior members of the crime group, considered to be one of Europe's largest cocaine importers, are alleged to have ultimately commissioned the double hit on shadowy online networks.
Plot details and suspects
Lower-tier criminal networks in Ireland and Sweden were reportedly used in the alleged plot. The Kinahan group has allegedly been forced to rely on external contractors after their reach was curtailed by law enforcement, with their suspected leader Daniel Kinahan extradited back to Ireland and arrested last month.
Ireland's McCarthy Dundon gang and Sweden's Foxtrot network were involved in the alleged plot, according to a major investigation by multiple media outlets. Sources claim the cartel used other crime groups to insulate their own members from arrest.
Encrypted app recruitment
The Irish Times reported that an advertisement for a hitman was uploaded to encrypted messaging app Signal on August 10 by an account called Sponge Jobb. The murder was to be carried out somewhere in the European Union (EU). The pay on offer was listed as 650,000 Swedish Krona (£50,000).
However, Danish police were watching the Signal group as part of an operation tackling the rising trend of "violence as a service" (VAAS). Social media and encrypted apps are increasingly being used to outsource violent acts, including assault, murder and arson, to third parties. Often, teenagers are hired to carry out the "jobs" in exchange for relatively small sums of cash.
The tactic is particularly popular with crime gangs in Scandinavian countries in recent years. An undercover Danish police officer responded to the message posing as a hitman-for-hire and accepted the job.
Arrests and ongoing threat
Sponge Jobb, whose profile picture was SpongeBob SquarePants, claimed to be part of a crime gang operating all over Europe. After exchanging messages, the pair worked through the logistics of the hit. It was to take place in Cyprus and there were two targets, not one. The "hitman" was to murder a pair of British teens who had been holidaying on the island, it is claimed.
The motivation behind the double murder plot is unclear, but the Irish Times reported Irish security sources believe the hits were ultimately commissioned by veteran criminals with close ties to the Kinahan cartel.
The Danish agent was flown to the Mediterranean island on August 24 after his handlers – two Norwegians and an Irish national – were waiting for him. Prosecutors in Cyprus say the Irish suspect was responsible for liaising with the hitman and passing him money during his stay. On August 28, local Cyprus police arrested all three suspects, and searches of their apartments uncovered six mobile phones, two expandable batons and over €2,600 in cash.
Despite the alleged plot being foiled, the organisers were not ready to give up, and last week Cypriot police received a warning from Swedish authorities of a suspected hitman landing on the island. It is believed the criminal was sent to complete the hit on the twins. The man, and another who had been previously arrested on suspicion of commissioning a murder in Stockholm, were arrested by police along with three other Swedish nationals. Follow-up searches uncovered pistols, medical masks and disposable gloves.
The alleged plot was described as a "fairly typical violence-as-a-service set-up" by Swedish police superintendent Teodor Smedius. "They have taken on this assignment, but this time they are not the typical child soldiers – they are a bit older," he told Sweden's public broadcaster SVT. "We see that when assignments are carried out abroad, slightly older individuals tend to be recruited. It makes travelling easier and attracts less attention."
