An alleged group that kidnapped a man in Portugal and tied him to a tree near Barcelona falls

Some members are related to another kidnapping attempt in Setúbal (Portugal)

BARCELONA, 28 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Mossos d'Esquadra, in a joint operation with the National Police and the Portuguese Judiciary Police, coordinated by Europol, arrested nine people who allegedly kidnapped an 84-year-old businessman in Almancil (Portugal) and tied him to a tree in Collbató (Barcelona).

This was explained in a press conference this Thursday by the head of the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) of the Southern Metropolitan Region of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Rafael Montes; the chief inspector of the Udyco section of the Alicante Provincial Judicial Police Brigade of the National Police, Juan Castillo, and the chief inspector of the Polícia Judiciária da Diretoria do Sul (Portugal), Batista Correia.

The investigation began on August 24, when a Portuguese businessman was allegedly approached, beaten, threatened with firearms and tied in his vehicle by the criminal organization when he was heading to a real estate property he had for sale in Almancil.

The assailants traveled with the victim's vehicle 1,200 kilometers (a journey that lasted about 20 hours) until they reached Collbató (Barcelona), where they left him "abandoned and tied to a tree in a wooded area," explained Montes.

"During the entire journey, the assailants made banking transactions from the victim's account to 52 bank accounts located in France and Lithuania, and even stopped at some ATMs to withdraw cash, which caused a global loss of around 100,000 euros. "added the head of the DIC of the Southern Metropolitan Region of the Mossos d'Esquadra.

The victim "managed to untie himself from the tree, but he was disoriented," and a local resident found him and alerted the Collbató Local Police, who activated the Medical Emergency System (SEM) and took the man to a hospital. .

Montes has detailed that, in parallel, the victim's son alerted the Portuguese police authorities of his father's disappearance, and they began exchanging information with the police forces through Europol, who subsequently collected fingerprints from the car. of the victim, they monitored several mobile phones and analyzed the place where the man was tied up.

After completing the investigation, the investigators scheduled a day to arrest the alleged members of the organization - three of them were in charge of the kidnapping and the rest of the bank transfers - but they found that "the main people under investigation had left unexpected way to Portugal".

"Thanks to the collaboration with the Portuguese police, the joint team of investigators knew that the reason for moving to this country was to carry out another kidnapping in the town of Setúbal (Portugal)," Castillo explained.

On December 11, a Portuguese businesswoman parked her vehicle in front of her house and two people allegedly threatened her with a firearm and tried to put her in the back seat of the vehicle.

"The woman screamed and her husband left the house and struggled with the kidnappers, who finally fled with the victim's vehicle," added Correia, and thanks to a geolocation system, they located the alleged kidnappers in Torremolinos (Málaga), where the National Police arrested five people involved in the events on December 12, two of them involved in the first kidnapping.

The other four involved in the first kidnapping were arrested in Alicante and Malaga on December 13, and the agents carried out seven entries and searches in Malaga, Alicante, Murcia and Marbella, where they found falsified documentation and simulated and real weapons.

Furthermore, Montes has assured that the three people who allegedly carried out the first kidnapping, aged about 24, have been admitted to a prison in Alicante and "will most likely be tried in Catalonia", while the other detainees were released with charges.

The head of the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) of the Southern Metropolitan Region of the Mossos d'Esquadra has highlighted that they were a group of "young, extremely violent people, who clearly planned the events."

The chief inspector of the Polícia Judiciária da Diretoria do Sul has stated that "the kidnappers had permanent mobility, they used different vehicles to leave no trace and they were always looking for businessmen with large amounts of money and followed them while they planned their kidnapping."

For his part, the chief inspector of the Udyco section of the Provincial Judicial Police Brigade of Alicante of the National Police, has sent a message of calm: "This type of kidnappings are not common."