Three British men have been arrested in Spain for kidnapping a UK cryptocurrency trader in Marbella and demanding a £25,000 ransom. The group would nimbly lure the trader to a rented flat near Estepona before they held him hostage and threatened to murder him unless he gave them unfettered access to his crypto pocketbook.
But the 34-year-old victim played his kidnappers like a fiddle. He stayed on the phone, pretending he was discussing business, as he texted a friend in London. The victim’s friend promptly told his mother, who wasted no time alerting the police. This set off a high-stakes race against the clock, with authorities racing to pinpoint the location before the kidnappers could make good on their threats.
Not knowing much about where he was being held, the police began a search operation. After noticing an apartment match, officers get ready to enter and inside the victim sees a split second of distraction and springs his escape.
In a panic, one of the kidnappers, glued to his cell phone, jumped from a second-floor balcony to pursue him. The ploy backfired spectacularly, with his misjudged descent resulting in both ankles broken. The racket from his crash drew the attention of nearby police officers, who flooded onto the property.
The other two suspects were in an Audi, trying to get away, but the police stopped them almost immediately. A raid at the apartment found £8,000 in cash, weapons, and 25 grams of pink cocaine.
Codenamed Operation Espino, the investigation found that the kidnappers targeted him after discovering he was a cryptocurrency trader, and thus a potential source of large cash sums.
All three of the suspects were arrested and charged with kidnapping, assault, possession of illegal weapons, and drug trafficking, and all allegedly have criminal records in Spain. They were ordered to be held in custody.
