Dutch prosecutors allege that two men were recruited by an international criminal network to carry out planned assassinations in Amsterdam and Haarlem. One target was shot at but escaped unharmed, while police thwarted the second attack.
Two men who allegedly traveled from Copenhagen to the Netherlands to carry out two assassinations are suspected of working for an international criminal network, prosecutors told the Amsterdam District Court during a preliminary hearing.
According to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), the planned killings were intended to take place on the night of July 8-9. One target was shot at in Amsterdam but was not injured, while police intervened before a second attack could be carried out in Haarlem.
“The underworld is hiring youngsters as child soldiers,” a prosecutor said during the hearing.
Investigation began with Swedish intelligence tip
The investigation was launched on July 8 after Swedish authorities alerted Dutch police to a taxi reservation from Schiphol Airport to a hotel in Amsterdam that they believed was linked to a violent operation.
Prosecutors allege that Walid A., 19, and his 18-year-old accomplice, Mohamed A., both born in Somalia and living in Sweden, arrived at Schiphol from Copenhagen on July 7. The following day, they reportedly purchased a fat bike and obtained weapons in Amsterdam.
Investigators suspect that two women supplied the firearms, while a third suspect paid for the bicycle.
Walid A. was arrested at an Amsterdam hotel shortly after the thwarted attempt. Police found a weapon on him when he was detained. He appeared in court on Wednesday alongside the two women accused of supplying the weapons: Nursena Y., 24, from Dieren, and Saloua G., 20, from Cuijk.
DNA evidence linked second suspect to case
Mohamed A. was arrested in Denmark in July after a European arrest warrant was issued. A baseball cap bearing his DNA was found along a possible escape route following the failed attack, and the DNA profile matched a record in the Swedish DNA database.
Police also reportedly found instructions on his phone, along with searches relating to the locations where the killings were allegedly planned: Slauerhoffstraat in Amsterdam and Cornelia de Langestraat in Haarlem.
He was extradited to the Netherlands on September 26. His case is scheduled to be addressed at the next preliminary hearing on December 9. All the suspects will remain in custody until then.
Authorities suspect wider criminal network
Investigators believe the dispute behind the alleged assassination plans remains unresolved, although authorities have not disclosed details of the conflict.
The prosecutor said further arrests were expected in the near future. Investigators are now concentrating on identifying the wider criminal organization believed to have commissioned and supported the planned killings.
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