The National Police (above in a file photo) dubbed the investigation “Operation Kafka.” Daniel Pérez (EFE)

A manual for how to hire a hitman probably doesn’t exist. But if it did, it would surely contain a section advising you not to go to the police should your would-be assassin rip you off. Yet that’s exactly what two Spanish women in Madrid did, leading to both their arrests and that of third Spaniard, all for their alleged involvement in a bizarre series of events.

The plan was to harvest the man’s organs and sell them for €60,000

The story of this two-fold con began several months ago, when a 52-year-old woman in Madrid and her 20-year-old daughter were swindled out of €60,000 by the mother’s partner. The women wanted to deal with the situation, and the daughter mentioned this fact to her current partner, a 29-year-old man. The young lady’s boyfriend managed to convince her that he worked in the secret service, and he came up with a plan to get their money back from the man. First they would locate him, then kill him and harvest his organs. With their sale, they would make €60,000, which they would receive via a check.

The fraud victims and the alleged secret service chief signed a contract that set out the terms of the deal. “The search for the [name of alleged swindler] is established as a priority.” The next steps involved the search for the target, the interrogation of family members, friends and acquaintances, and once located, “the extraction of seven organs.” Point six of the contract specified that the woman would be compensated via the sale of those organs.

To be able to start working on the operation and locate the target, the fake spy requested a kind of deposit, of €7,000. This, he claimed, was the money needed to pay his informants and locate hitmen who could carry out the operation. But time passed, and the hit did not take place.

The three have since been released with charges, and are awaiting to be called to court

Given the situation, the mother and daughter decided to go to the police and report that they had been conned themselves by the daughter’s boyfriend. What they were seemingly unaware of was that they themselves had allegedly committed another offense: attempting to arrange a contract killing. Both were immediately arrested, and before long the daughter’s boyfriend was located and he was detained too. The police have not ruled out the possibility that the man had conned more victims.

The three have since been released with charges, and are awaiting to be called to court by the judge investigating the case. Police officers went to great lengths to ensure that the target for the plan was in a perfect state of health. His arrest for the alleged fraud that sparked the whole incident is yet to be ruled out.

The National Police have dubbed the investigation “Operation Kafka.”