A pensioner kidnapped from an Algarve resort was found tied to a tree near Barcelona, in an elaborate scam involving Brazilian gang members.
Spanish police said on Thursday that the gang was captured earlier this month and found to be targeting Portuguese nationals with extreme violence to extort money from them.
Three of the nine people arrested were described as Brazilians in their mid-20s and are believed to have led the express kidnapping of an 82-year-old Portuguese businessman, as well as attempting another violent capture of a woman from Setúbal, near Lisbon.
The elderly man reported his kidnapping to police in the picturesque hillside village of Collbató, about 30 miles inland from Barcelona, in late August.
He said he had been left tied to a tree in a wooded area near Montserrat mountain before managing to free his limbs and get away.
Officers were initially unconvinced, however, with Insp Rafael Montes of the Catalan police saying the “story seemed unlikely”.
Bundled into the boot
It was only after his tale had been corroborated by police in Portugal, who said the man’s son had reported him missing, that his claims were taken seriously.
Police in Portugal found that the kidnappers had been following the man, who owned a nightclub, and arranged to meet him under the pretext of being potential buyers of a house he was selling in Almancil, on the Algarve.
Upon meeting him, the man was bundled into the boot of his own car and beaten into revealing his bank details.
A sum of €100,000 was then transferred in small amounts to online accounts in France and Lithuania.
The gang also bought a mobile phone and other electronics with the man’s cards in stores in Barcelona.
“They were a very professional organisation but there is always an error. In this case, it was the purchase of a phone and a case,” said Ch Insp Juan Castillo of Alicante Judicial Police’s organised crime squad, who said that officers surmised correctly that the protective case meant the mobile was for their own use.
Tracking that mobile phone allowed the police to locate one of the gang members in Alicante, where he was arrested entering a brothel with a gun to carry out a robbery, Ch Insp Castillo said, and from there to detain other members.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
