The owner of a hair salon in Hospitalet has been arrested for participating in the financing of Hamas.

BarcelonaThe En Bin-Salon hair salon is located on Enric Prat de la Riba street in Hospitalet de Llobregat. They offer barber services, as well as nail styling, eyelash extensions, and makeup. Next to the main sign are smaller letters in Chinese: 阿彬形象设计. This essentially means they do all kinds of "styling." Some customers criticize the salon for being dirty and for their insistence on cash payments. This Tuesday, the owner was led out of the salon in handcuffs. He is a 38-year-old man of Chinese origin who was arrested by the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) for allegedly participating in the financing of the terrorist organization Hamas, based in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement released by the Catalan police.

Specifically, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) investigation has confirmed that the man made 31 money transfers to various addresses linked to an entity that, according to the police, Hamas used for financing. These transfers were made using cryptocurrencies, and the total amount of all the transfers reached €600,000. At the moment, the Mossos have not specified where the money was going or which branch of Hamas received it. The case is under the jurisdiction of the National Court and is still open under seal. After appearing before the judge, the man was released on bail. However, his passport was confiscated, and he must appear in court weekly.

The investigation began in June 2025 following a case that had little connection to terrorism. In an investigation into fraud and money laundering, the Mossos stumbled upon this man who runs a hair salon in L'Hospitalet. They then discovered he was sending cryptocurrencies to several addresses linked to an entity allegedly used by Hamas for funding.

All the money is frozen

On Tuesday, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) arrested the suspect and, with judicial authorization, carried out two search warrants at his home and hair salon. Officers seized over €100,000 in cash, luxury jewelry, around 9,000 cigars, computer equipment, and two firearms. They also froze cryptocurrencies and several bank accounts linked to the detainee. In total, the value of all the seized and frozen assets exceeds €370,000. A month ago, Italian authorities also arrested nine people for allegedly attempting to finance Hamas. At that time, they seized €8 million and accused those arrested of being members of the terrorist organization. Italian police also specified that the money was intended for military and criminal activities. In the Hospitalet case, the suspect appears to be more of an intermediary involved in money laundering—one of the main activities of the Chinese mafia—than a member of the organization. The Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) also did not specify what was done with that money.