They had acquired skull masks, sunglasses, self-defense sprays, caps, gloves, hammers, zip ties and two firearms. They had everything prepared to execute the plan to kidnap a person who, supposedly, owed them money. It was neither the first nor the second time they tried it, but the third time it didn’t go well either. The Civil Guard was on their trail and thwarted their plans before they might check if they would succeed this time. Four men have been arrested in a country house in Cártama (Málaga, 27,712 inhabitants) for the crimes of attempted kidnapping, membership in a criminal organization, illicit possession of weapons, injuries, damages, falsification of documentation and theft. Three of them are already in prison.
The first time that the group of criminals tried to kidnap someone who allegedly owed them money was last June. They waited for him in the parking lot of a restaurant in Alhaurín de la Torre, but his victim managed to escape from the place. The second occasion occurred in the city of Malaga. This time they tried to carry out the abduction inside an underground parking lot in the capital, but they also failed because the man managed to avoid them once more. He had already reported it to the Civil Guard, which had begun an investigation to find out who was behind events that, according to police sources, are usually related to settling scores related to drug trafficking. In fact, during 2023 the province of Malaga recorded 17 kidnappings – the most in all of Spain along with Madrid – and the vast majority were linked to drug trafficking organizations.
The Alhaurín de la Torre Judicial Police team then undertook an investigation, part of Operation Paquitia. Little by little, the security forces agents were connecting the dots until they were able to identify and locate the alleged perpetrators. They also verified that all of them had numerous criminal records and had been in prison on some occasion. The leader of the group, in fact, had a search warrant in force because he had not returned to prison following a prison leave.
None of them had a fixed residence: they remained in constant movement through different locations in the provinces of Granada and Málaga. In a town in the metropolitan area of the capital of Malaga, Cártama, they managed to locate them. There they had settled for a few days in a country house to organize the third attempt to kidnap the same person. They had planned everything. They had two firearms with their corresponding ammunition and had acquired different materials to obtain what they had been looking for for months. They bought masks to hide his face, an extendable baton, self-defense sprays to attack the victim, and zip ties to tie and restrain him. They had also placed false license plates on the vehicle they were going to use in the events.
With everything prepared and ready to leave, the criminals were surprised by the Civil Guard agents who were on their trail, who managed to arrest the four men involved thanks to the support of different units of the Coín Command. The detainees are considered responsible for two attempted kidnappings and a third attempted kidnapping and are charged with the crimes of attempted kidnapping, membership in a criminal organization, illicit possession of weapons, injuries, damages, falsification of documentation and theft. All were placed at the disposal of the court, which ordered the imprisonment of three of them.
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