A young Belgian man was arrested near Ghent over the fatal shooting of a 25-year-old Dutch man in Fuengirola, Spain, after several months on the run, the East Flanders Public Prosecutor’s Office said on Monday, confirming a report in the Spanish newspaper El País.
The victim was shot dead with an assault rifle on the morning of 7 December 2024. The police recovered the weapon and several shell casings near the body. The victim worked at a cannabis club near the scene of the crime.
The Belgian suspect, now aged 19, was first arrested in Ghent on 20 June 2025 under a European arrest warrant and was extradited on 11 July to Spain, where he was due to stand trial.
Whilst awaiting trial, he was held in a secure youth detention centre for nine months, before being released in early 2026. A suspect who is a minor may only be held in pre-trial detention for a maximum of nine months if the trial has not yet taken place.
The authorities subsequently lost track of the suspect.
Six other people had previously been arrested in connection with this case. A seventh suspect died in the Netherlands during an exchange of gunfire with the Dutch police whilst being arrested.
The recent arrest of the alleged shooter was made possible by the fact that the Netherlands had issued a European arrest warrant.
The Dutch Public Prosecutor’s Office has also reached an agreement with the Malaga Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office for the entire case to be transferred to the Netherlands, as the victim was a Dutch national, reports El País.
“The suspect appeared before an investigating judge in Ghent on 26 June 2026 and was remanded in custody. He was extradited to the Netherlands on 15 July 2026,” the Public Prosecutor’s Office stated.
