Belgian police have detained Shah C., accused of killing a Dutch citizen in Fuengirola at 17. After serving nine months in a Spanish juvenile center, he fled the country. Now, he faces extradition to the Netherlands.
The Belgian police have arrested Shah C., the young man accused of carrying out a contract killing in Fuengirola, Málaga, when he was just 17 years old. His detention comes after a controversial release from a Spanish juvenile center, where he had served the maximum nine-month term allowed by law for minors awaiting trial. Following his release in spring, Shah C. disappeared from Spain, prompting an international search that ended with his capture in Laarne, near Ghent, Belgium.
Shah C., now 19, is suspected of traveling to the Costa del Sol in December 2024 to assassinate a Dutch national. According to investigators, he received logistical support from several accomplices, including men who coordinated his arrival and women who transported the Tokarev rifle used in the attack from Paris to Málaga. On the night of December 7, he allegedly waited outside a cannabis club in Fuengirola and fired 18 shots at his supposed target, before discarding the weapon under a car and fleeing the scene by bicycle. He then boarded a flight back to Belgium, marking the first time a minor had successfully carried out a contract killing in Málaga province.
The murder, believed to be part of a gang-related feud, triggered a swift response from Spanish authorities. The National Police’s Udyco Group II in Málaga quickly made several arrests. The first was a collaborator in Torremolinos, followed by the death of another suspect in a police shootout in Amsterdam. Additional arrests included the women who transported the weapon and, in June 2025, Shah C. himself, who was extradited to Spain for trial. However, due to the legal limit for pre-trial detention of minors, he was released without any precautionary measures, and authorities soon lost track of his whereabouts.
The decision to release Shah C. without further restrictions drew criticism from both Spanish police and the Belgian consulate in Spain. Judicial sources noted that neither the prosecution nor the private accuser requested additional measures, allowing the suspect to leave custody unmonitored. The court declared him “untraceable” and requested police assistance to locate him. The case highlighted gaps in cross-border cooperation, as Spain did not issue a European Arrest Warrant, leaving it to the Netherlands to initiate the process that ultimately led to his arrest in Belgium.
Shah C. was finally located on June 25, 2026, in Laarne, thanks to a coordinated operation between Belgian federal police and local authorities. He is now set to be extradited to the Netherlands, where he will be tried alongside other suspects, all of whom, like the victim, are Dutch nationals. The transfer of the case was made possible by an agreement between Dutch prosecutors and the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office in Málaga. Notably, investigators believe the victim, Jasin Ajar, may not have been the intended target. Ajar, 25, had recently moved to Málaga for a sabbatical year and was working at the cannabis club. Evidence suggests Shah C. may have mistaken him for someone else present at the club that night.
This case has reignited debate over the handling of violent juvenile offenders in Spain and the challenges of international cooperation in organized crime cases. The legal framework limits pre-trial detention for minors to nine months, even in serious cases, unless a trial can be held sooner. The situation is reminiscent of other high-profile incidents involving minors and cross-border crime, such as the recent surge in unaccompanied migrant minors and the resulting strain on Spanish regions. For example, the government’s efforts to redistribute unaccompanied minors from Ceuta have highlighted the complexities of managing youth offenders and vulnerable populations across borders.
Spain’s approach to juvenile justice is designed to balance rehabilitation with public safety, but cases like that of Shah C. expose the system’s vulnerabilities when dealing with organized crime and international fugitives. The outcome of the upcoming trial in the Netherlands may set important precedents for future cooperation between European countries in similar cases. Meanwhile, the incident has prompted renewed calls for reviewing legal procedures and improving coordination between judicial authorities in Spain and other EU states.
