The staging of the murder was reminiscent of those executions with the stamp of a South American cartel in which the sun squeezes and it is difficult to breathe. Without the ceremoniousness that seems to surround the gunmen of the Italian families, but impregnated by all its harshness. A message in itself: "Whoever does it pays it." In the vicinity of the Virgen del Rocío parish in Marbella, minutes after finishing the communion ceremony for his son, David Ávila Ramos, alias 'Maradona', he was riddledinside his car by an individual who was escaping on a motorcycle. It didn't matter that the boy was in the back seat. Arrive, shoot and run away. Up to five shells hit the victim, an alleged drug trafficker whose life hung by a thread after the National Police had intercepted 9,000 kilos of cocaine in the port of Algeciras in April 2018. "What was said on the street was that there had been the entry of the drug was guaranteed and they were demanding compensation, "sources close to the case say, recalling that a gym and a beach bar had previously burned his property.
"Signs that they were serious"
It was May 12 and investigators of Organized Crime Groups I and III of the Drugs and Organized Crime Unit (Udyco) of the Malaga Provincial Police Station were then initiating an investigation that lasted two years and which has allowed the dismantling of a dangerous gang Nordic hitmen who with their crimes and explosive devices had created panic among drug traffickers in the south of the country. A ruthless group led by Amir Faten Mekky, a 23-year-old young man, who the authorities link to 19 murders and who has finally been arrested in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), a country in which he had hidden and tried to go unnoticed with a almost monastic life.
Born in Copenhagen (Denmark), but of Iranian descent , at an early age he began to move through the underworld accompanied by his older brother, Fakhry. A fan of kick-boxing, he exhibited violence beyond the ring, and drug trafficking and extortion crimes began to grace a record sheet that swelled in the Swedish city of Malmö.
"Cold, methodical and calculating," as defined by the inspector who has followed his lead in various countries, he was suspicious of everyone around him. The only person he trusted, above his relative, was his lieutenant : Ahmad Abdul Karim. A criminal of Iraqi origin who, along with his brother Karim, was part of the organization's hard core.
The hired killer who came from the cold
Authorities link Mekky and his men to 19 murders, second only to the dangerous Dutch drug trafficker Ridouan Taghi, known as 'The Angel of Death', who is blamed for around twenty violent deaths and with whom he is believed to have had contacts. Crimes custom - "such as 'Maradona'" - the perceived substantial sums of money; and others that contained personal interests, for which he gave "a plus of 5,000 or 6,000 euros" to the executor.
"It is linked to the murder of a man who simply made a negative comment to his publication on Facebook," reveals the person in charge of the investigation, who adds that Amir Faten and his subordinates had real devotion for the film The Godfather - by Francis Ford Coppola- and idolized Pablo Escobar. "They even used the names of the best-known members of the Medellín Cartel as nicknames; like 'Popeye', who was the most ruthless hitman" and who later made a profit by counting his memoirs in a book.
Who knows if his fixation on the bombs was a reflection of this idolatry, but the truth is that he regularly put into practice this explosive criminal fate. "His men allegedly blew up a bar because they had not let him in," says the inspector, who recalls that he was behind the placement of two devices that detonated on October 10, 2018. The targets were the home of a suspected drug dealer in Ceuta. Benahavís and a car wash business owned by him in the Marbella town of San Pedro Alcántara. Facts by which three of his subordinates fell months later.
The organization began 'visiting' the Costa del Sol in approximately 2015, although it was not until July 2017 that it settled in the area away from the bloody war between drug traffickers that was spreading in Swedish cities such as Stockholm or Malmö.
They rented homes in Benahavís, near the Diana de Benahavís shopping center and the luxurious Villa Padierna hotel, and Fakhry made a mistake by investing in a restaurant in Marbella, which highlighted his intentions to establish himself for a long time. They were not scared away by the fact that the ringleader was arrested shortly after for carrying false documentation.
Fear of a mole
Unlike many other drug traffickers who operate in the area, and despite being in his twenties, Amir Faten Mekky fled from the luxuries and pleasures of the Costa Rican night and, although "they did not experience anything bad", kept a low profile fed by a character conspiracy. "He was convinced that he had a mole in the gang" and that made him take extra security measures and only delegated to Ahmad.
But despite his fear of treason , he really feared was the Udyco investigators who took advantage of the only mistake they made after their first hit. "The first week of work -after the murder of 'Maradona'- was frantic. Five days later - and thanks to the analysis of the images collected - we located the motorcycle on which the crime's executor fled." Then the house in which they were hiding. And later, "the car that the girlfriend of one of them had rented." Little by little, and without the 'bad guys' noticing, the agents completed the puzzle that allowed them to identify the members of the organization one by one.
"When we contacted the Swedish authorities, they were amazed that we had them located," said the source, who explains that it was decided to create a joint investigation group that was going to have much more work.
On August 20 of that same year, between the murder of David Ávila and the explosive devices, Sofian Ahmed Barrak, nicknamed 'El zocato', was killed in Estepona, a leading drug dealer from Ceuta who was shot nine times by a young man who was in bicycle. Investigators quickly linked this crime to Amir Faten's hit man.
Investigations revealed that, in the past, the drug trafficker had allegedly hired the services of the gang, a friendship relationship emerging that allayed any suspicion when Mekky proposed that he stay that night without knowing that he would become his victim. "We know that he was by his side the whole time to keep him under control while the shooter was waiting near his home."
Three days after Sofian's crime, and still affected by an assassination attempt he had suffered on June 19 in Malmö - in which he was shot in the leg and killed three people, two of them, innocent citizens -, The gang leader flees to Morocco , his mother's country of origin and the organization's recurring refuge.
"There he spends time and only returns to plan the placement of the bombs," recalls the inspector of Group I of Organized Crime, who points out that he quickly returns to North Africa, while his right hand remains in Malaga to ensure that his instructions they are strictly followed.
A year and a half escaped
During his Moroccan stadium, Amir Faten seems to sense the first arrests of members of his gang and stars in an international escape that starts on November 18, 2018. With his documentation, he buys a ticket that takes him to the United Arab Emirates, where his' was located. friend 'Ridouan Taghi. It then fades away.
The Udyco Central National Fugitive Tracking Group joined the case and began to follow several leads that placed Mekky in Qatar - where his girlfriend traveled - and Thailand, an Asian country where an arrest device was established last December. when detecting several people in your environment.
But it wasn't there. This dangerous criminal, who from a distance had witnessed the progressive collapse of his organization, was hidden in a Dubai urbanization where he tried to go unnoticed.
One day, who knows if exhausted by circumstances, he relaxed his usual precautions and went out to throw the garbage. In the distance, the Emirati police, with whom the National Police had contacted through the attaché of the Ministry of Interior at the embassy, recorded the scene without its protagonist realizing that he was being watched . On June 4, once any doubts about his identity had been dispelled, he was arrested and his escape came to an end. Hours later, his image was distributed to local media as journalists detailed their list of misdeeds.
For the head of Group I on Organized Crime, "by far, it is the most complicated case I have ever faced. Because of the facts, the crimes and the way to investigate them." Two years of investigations in which the setbacks and difficulties were not going to weaken the forces of the agents, who fortunately have had a positive outcome.
Amir Faten Mekky, who until the moment of his capture had only been held for six months behind bars, is waiting to be extradited to Spain to render accounts before the courts. But the case is not closed: "It remains to be seen who hired him to assassinate 'Maradona'".
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