Their price list started at Euro8,000 (HK$91,000) but they were not selling second-hand cars.
Instead, the money would pay for the maiming of an enemy with whom their 'clients' had fallen out. And the Chinese gang of hired hit men would charge much more for a murder.
The gang, who were based in Spain but had links to organised crime groups in the Netherlands and Italy, would take on any type of 'contract crime', from extortion, simple attacks, fraud and finally assassination. Their targets were mainly Chinese street vendors, who are a common sight at European tourist spots, dodging the police to peddle fake handbags and watches. But after years of operating out of the reach of the Spanish authorities, the gang's reign came to an end when police arrested 21 members after uncovering a plot to murder a Chinese man in Malaga, southern Spain.
Officers from a unit specialising in busting violent gang crime unravelled a well-organised business dedicated to killing for cash.
The investigation began when police were informed of the plot to assassinate the Chinese national. But, anxious to prevent the murder, Spanish officers initially had problems penetrating the gang.
'The biggest problem was getting victims to testify against this gang as the Chinese community is very closed and they often do not complain out of sheer fear,' a police source said. But detectives knew enough to be able to make a series of arrests, raiding homes in Madrid and Valencia in southeast Spain. Pistols, knives, axes and other weapons were found along with documents and computers.
Police found that one house was a brothel with Chinese women shipped from the Netherlands and forced into prostitution.