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Mekin Buyukdeniz, the alleged leader of the Istanbul-based "10 Brothers" crime group, was shot dead in his room at a hospital in Tarragona, Spain, early Thursday, about two weeks after surviving an earlier attack.
A gunman entered the Joan XXIII Hospital’s fifth-floor trauma ward around 3:15 a.m. and opened fire on Buyukdeniz, 35, before fleeing, according to the reports.
A law enforcement source confirmed the victim's identity to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
Catalonia's regional police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, said in a statement that officers found a man admitted to the hospital seriously wounded by gunfire. "Despite the medical assistance received, the man finally died," the police said.
The force's Criminal Investigation Division took over the probe, and the case was placed under judicial secrecy, the statement said.
Emergency services activated a psychological support team for hospital staff.
Buyukdeniz was seriously wounded on Oct. 16 in the coastal town of Salou when shots fired from a vehicle hit him in the legs. He was treated in intensive care before being moved to a regular ward.
Police protection provided after the first attack was lifted after a reassessment of the security risk and after a person from Türkiye began providing him private protection, according to the reports. Buyukdeniz had told health workers and police he feared another attack.
The gunman, who hid his face with a helmet and hood, shot Buyukdeniz several times.
A woman with him in the room was unharmed.
Two hospital security guards were responding to a separate incident in the emergency room, in which a nurse was allegedly harassed, at the time of the attack. Police are investigating whether that incident was staged to help the gunman enter.
Catalan police believe the two attacks are linked and are examining whether the killing stemmed from a feud between organized crime groups.
The Kucukcekmece Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul named Buyukdeniz as the group’s leader in its investigation, describing it as a family-centered armed network.
Prosecutors investigated the group on charges including forming a criminal organization, aggravated murder, unlicensed firearms, armed assault and aggravated robbery. The group profited from arms and drug trafficking, armed attacks and extortion, with leaders abroad directing members in Türkiye.
On Feb. 13, police raided 61 addresses in seven provinces and detained 42 suspects, 26 of whom were arrested and six placed under judicial control.
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