Madrid, April 1 (IANS/EFE) Fourteen people have been arrested in Spain for using an Internet forum to offer their services to extort, attack and even commit murders, the police said.
The Internet forum with a Mexican domain and called ‘Asesinos a sueldo’ (Murderers for hire), was reported in the summer of 2009 by a citizen in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona, according to police.
The police discovered comments posted in the forum that provided data about possible hit targets in Spain, including their cities of residence, physical build, sex and age, as well as the amount of money being offered to murder them, figures that ranged between 4,000 and 10,000 euros ($5,671-$14,177).
Among those arrested is a woman from the southern city of Malaga who made contact with four assassins with the aim of having her husband killed.
Besides setting the price of the hit, she provided them with photographs, his license plate number, his work schedule and even the ideal place, date and time to carry out the murder.
However, just like the other cases being investigated, the murder never took place, since the alleged potential killer – who was arrested in the northern city of Orense – did not find in the proper location the weapon he had arranged for.
Another of the people arrested expressed on the forum his intention to kill his parents, while several more were hired to carry out assorted crimes in Palencia and Palma de Mallorca, and one even paid 4,000 euros to have an acquaintance in Valencia intimidated.
After the authorities fully identified the users of the forum, they proceeded to arrest and charge them.
