The girlfriend of a missing London travel agent whose body is believed to have been found in a burnt-out car in Sweden has paid tribute to him as “a phenomenal human being”.
Father-of-two Juan Cifuentes, 33, and his friend newly-wed Farooq Abdulrazak, 37, failed to return home from a business trip to Scandinavia over the weekend.
It is feared the pair may have been murdered in a gangland war.
Relatives in north London reported Mr Cifuentes and Mr Abdulrazak missing on Monday.
But hours earlier, police found two bodies with gunshot wounds inside the burning wreckage of a Toyota Rav4 matching the car they hired on an industrial estate near Malmo.
The Metropolitan Police is investigating and liaising with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Swedish authorities.
Mr Cifuentes’ partner Stephanie, who has his son and daughter, said the men were “on their way to meet Allah”, adding: “Juan was a phenomenal human being, most humble, most giving, hardworking and most charitable person to exist. The definition of the most amazing father.
“I couldn’t have asked Allah for a better father for my children. He came to Islam at 20 years old through me... Allah gave him the chance to complete umrah (a pilgrimage to Mecca) with Farooq... and now they’re on their way to meet Allah in their final home.”
Mr Cifuentes, born in Colombia, was a popular non-league footballer with Welwyn Garden City FC.
A club spokesperson said: “Juan was part of our double-winning squad in 2014-15. A very good player and great person.”
Empire Holidays, the friends’ travel company, confirmed owner Mr Abdulrazak had “sadly passed away”.
Swedish police said the victims were shot on Sunday, with the Toyota set on fire in an industrial area of the city in southern Sweden.
According to Swedish national newspaper Aftonbladet, the car had been rented at Copenhagen airport, in Denmark, by a British citizen before the driver and the passenger travelled across the border into Sweden and to Malmo.
It reported officers were investigating a friend of Mr Abdulrazak, described as a 35-year-old foreigner who lived in the UK.
The newspaper added detectives had uncovered “a suspected death threat in connection” with the deaths.
A recent spiral of gang violence has left Sweden with the second highest rate of gun deaths per capita in Europe, after Albania.
Five years ago, the conflict spilt into London with the killing of drug boss Flamur Beqiri, 36, shot eight times in front of his wife and their two-year-old son on the doorstep of their Battersea home on Christmas Eve, 2019.
A Swedish police spokesman said: “The two people who were found dead in a burned out car on Sunday afternoon have not yet been identified.
“The bodies are being examined by forensic medicine. The incident is currently being investigated as a murder.
“Several witnesses have been interviewed and the police are interested in further observations and tips.”
