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Who killed Flamur Beqiri?
Swede shot dead in front of wife and child outside London home on Christmas Eve
Beqiri, an Albanian-born Swedish national with suspected links to organised crime, was shot dead outside his Battersea home in front of his wife and child.
Police said the shooting may have been a “targeted attack”.
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Beqiri, 36, moved to the UK four or five years ago, and reportedly left Sweden after receiving death threats. He had previously run a record label in Malmo, and set up another label in London last year.
The Metropolitan Police say that Beqiri may also have been involved in criminality in the country. He was implicated in a £2m cannabis smuggling ring, according to The Guardian.
And his Facebook friends reportedly included convicted gunrunner Tamer Zahran, currently serving a jail sentence in Sweden for his part in smuggling 235 weapons from Slovakia.
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Beqiri was also friends with the boyfriend of Karolin Hakim, who was shot dead in Malmo in August while walking with her partner and their baby. Gunmen thought to be targeting her boyfriend shot Hakim in the head.
Following Beqiri’s murder, the Met’s Detective Inspector Jamie Stevenson said: “We believe Flamur may possibly have been involved in some criminality in Sweden, and are in liaison with our Swedish counterparts to try to understand what, if any, incidents there may have been that might have led to someone seeking retribution against Flamur in the UK.”
How did he die?
Police say Beqiri was shot multiple times by a lone attacker who then fled on foot.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. Neighbours said they heard up to ten shots, followed by a woman screaming, The Guardian reports.
In a statement released through Scotland Yard shortly after his death, Beqiri’s family said: “Our family are in a state of shock and are grieving. To have so much sadness at this time of the year is heartbreaking.”
Beqiri is reportedly the brother of former Real Housewives Of Cheshire star Misse Beqiri, and met his wife at his sister’s wedding, says Sky News.
Who killed him?
Police investigating the murder arrested a 22-year-old man, who has not been named, at Copenhagen Airport on Monday.
The man was detained under a European Arrest Warrant just before 7pm, after returning from a trip to Thailand, reports Swedish newspaper Kvällsposten.
The suspect remains in custody in Denmark pending extradition proceedings back to the UK.
