Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
Three British men, who look like they were in a Guy Ritchie farce, have been arrested for the kidnapping of a UK cryptocurrency dealer on the Costa del Sol.
Images were released by the Spanish police on Sunday, 9 February, showing the moment they surrounded the Audi that the kidnappers attempted to escape in after their victim escaped by jumping off an Estepona balcony.
The men had taken the broker hostage and demanded €30,000 for his release after an informal meeting in Marbella conned him into accepting an invitation to an address in nearby Estepona.
The 34-year old Hindi-speaking victim escaped by pretending he was calling a partner, who he claimed had to give him the half of a key code to unlock a cryptographic wallet.
He called a friend in London instead, explaining that he had been held against his wishes and where he happened to be, but his captors couldn’t understand him.
British kidnap gang hadn’t banked on Hindi being victim’s language
His friend in the UK then alerted the victim’s mother, who informed British police of what was going on, setting in motion the operation in Spain codenamed ‘Operación Espino’ to track down the property described by the victim to his friend.
After finding the flat and awaiting backup, the hostage used a brief lapse in concentration by one of his captors when he was looking at social media to try to escape.
Hostage jumps off balcony
Police spotted the victim risking his life by hanging from a window. The victim was treated for two broken ankles. Knowing that the 3 suspects were now without their hostage, specialists from the National Police stormed the flat to find the men had made a run for it, leaving behind more than €10,000 in cash, as well as two guns, three knives, and 25 grams of pink cocaine.
Armed officers stopped the high-end car in which the three men were trying to escape. Three British men have been arrested on charges including kidnapping and belonging to a criminal organization. They also face charges for drug trafficking, illegal weapons possession, and membership in a criminal group.
Police in the UK know one of the men, but have not released any further details about their identity. The entire affair was over in less than 7 hours.
