Flamur 'Alex' Beqiri, 36, has been linked to several gangland crimes in Sweden where he was once one of the country's most wanted men.
The father-of-two was peppered with bullets in front of his screaming wife Debora Krasniqi, and his child, outside their £1.5million home in Battersea, South-West London, on December 24.
A 22-year-old man, from Malmo, Sweden, was arrested by Danish Police as he returned from a trip to Thailand, as reported by Swedish newspaper Kvallsposten.
Alex Beqiri (Flamur) and wife Debora Krasniqi. The 36-year-old was targeted as he returned to his townhouse in Battersea, South London, with his wife and young son just before 9pm
The crime scene where Flamur Beqiri, 36, a father of one, was murdered on December 27, 2019 in south-west London, England. Beqiri was shot dead outside his home on Battersea Church Road on Christmas Eve
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: 'A 22-year-old man was arrested at Copenhagen Airport, Denmark, on January 20 on a European Arrest Warrant on suspicion of the murder of Flamur Beqiri.
In 2008 Flamur was named as one of Sweden's most wanted men after detectives said he was part of an international drugs smuggling ring who moved £2million of cannabis into Scandinavia. Police said at the time they believed Mr Beqiri fled a bust at the border in bare feet but the drugs charges were later dropped.
Flamur (Alex) Beqiri (pictured)
He was instead found guilty of illegally handling smuggled goods including cigarettes and alcohol and given a suspended sentence.
The murder victim said he had no idea the Dutch man carrying 300kg of cannabis in his car and told detectives that the £5,000 cash was for a previous delivery of spirits and tobacco.
An insider in Sweden previously told MailOnline today that Mr Beqiri, who moved from Albania to Sweden as a child, was 'heavily linked' to criminals in the Swedish underworld but may have moved to the UK to 'go legit'.
Several of his former associates have also been murdered since his move to Britain.
His friend Naief Adawi, 33, who was jailed in 2008 for his role in a multi-million pound heist in Denmark, was targeted by a Syrian gunman outside a falafel shop in Malmo in August last year. He handed his two-month-old baby to his wife, Karolin Hakim, 31, and fled.
Mrs Hakim, who had been a guest at Mr Beqiri's 2018 wedding, was shot in the head and killed but Adawi and the baby survived.
In 2008 Mr Beqiri was named as one of Sweden's most wanted men after he was accused of being part of a drug smuggling ring that imported cannabis worth £2million into Scandinavia.
Court documents show he handed himself in two years later but was acquitted of the drugs offence and convicted of the lesser offence of handling alcohol and tobacco that had been smuggled into Sweden. He was given a suspended sentence and a fine.
Mr Beqiri, who was also known as Alex, was the brother of Real Housewives of Cheshire star Missé Beqiri.
It was at his sister's wedding to her ex-husband, Manchester United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard, that Mr Beqiri fell in love with his future wife Mrs Krasniqi.
He was said to have proposed after flying their families to a chalet in Kitzbuhel, Austria, where he covered the floor in a 1,000 red rose petals. The wedding featured a lavish ceremony at a hotel on Lake Como, Italy, in October 2018.
Neighbours said they heard 'between eight to ten' loud bangs at about 9pm on Christmas Eve as Mr Beqiri was gunned down. His attacker fled on foot, police confirmed.
Vittoria Amati, 60, said: 'I came out and realised it was one of my neighbours. He was lying in front of his doorway in a pool of blood. He was still alive. You have no idea how desperate [his wife] sounded.'
