Three men arrested in Cyprus allegedly planned to kill twin brothers from a third country who were due to arrive on the island for holidays, with an undercover Danish police officer allegedly offered €85,000 to carry out the murders.
The three suspects, one Irish national and two Norwegians, appeared before Famagusta District Court in Paralimni, which ordered their eight-day remand.
According to what was heard in court, the intended victims were two foreign nationals who are twin brothers and were expected to travel to Cyprus for a holiday.
The three suspects are not believed to have been the masterminds behind the alleged plot. Investigators said they searched online for a hitman and fell into a trap set by Danish police, which has been using undercover officers for some time to prevent planned killings.
The alleged hitman was in fact an undercover Danish police officer. Once he realised Cyprus was the country where the murders were being planned, he informed Danish authorities and Europol, which then alerted Cyprus Police.
The suspects are believed to have been linked to a criminal group that offered the undercover officer around €85,000 (650,000 Danish kroner) to kill the two brothers.
According to evidence presented in court, the Danish officer posing as a hitman and the person who contacted him communicated online. The latter allegedly said authorities would be bribed so that nobody would be present at the scene of the planned killings.
The undercover officer was also provided with a ticket to travel from Copenhagen to Cyprus and arrived on the island on 24 August. A team of Danish investigators travelled with him.
The officer received instructions through Signal, according to the court, and went to a location in Larnaca where he was given €200. He was later told to travel to Ayia Napa, where he stayed at a hotel.
On the same day, he received a location where he could collect additional money. There, he saw a person wearing black clothes and slippers leave an envelope on the wheel of a white vehicle.
The people involved were immediately placed under surveillance. Police officers saw a rental car driven by one of the three suspects, who was searching for the location where the money had been left.
On 24 August, a vehicle in Ayia Napa carrying two of the suspects and two women was placed under surveillance. The undercover officer identified the two men as the targets of the operation.
The officer later received another message and met one of the suspects to collect further money. The suspects left a cardboard box behind a bin containing €1,000.
The three suspects were arrested on 27 August.
The first suspect claimed he was in Cyprus on holiday. The second suspect was found to have a criminal record in his home country and previous convictions for threats and extortion, while he is wanted over weapons possession offences and threats.
“The operation highlights the importance of speed, operational readiness and international cooperation in tackling new forms of serious and organised crime,” Cyprus Police said in a statement.
Police added that it “continues to strengthen its cooperation with Europol and European law enforcement authorities, with the aim of preventing and effectively tackling organised crime”.
The investigation is continuing by a special investigative team from Police Headquarters in cooperation with the relevant European authorities.
The recruitment of hitmen online has become a practice increasingly used by organised crime groups abroad, with payments usually made through cryptocurrencies. European authorities have been using undercover officers to try to stop this activity.
Based on preliminary findings, the case does not appear to be linked to organised crime in Cyprus.
