The 82-year-old Portuguese was kidnapped on August 25 in the Algarve and taken to Barcelona.
Portuguese and Spanish police authorities have arrested six people in Malaga (Spain) suspected of being involved in the kidnapping of an elderly man in Almancil, Algarve, who was then moved to Barcelona, it was announced on Thursday.
In a statement, the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) said that the victim, who was subjected to extortion, “suffered violent attacks and threats, using firearms”, and had 100,000 euros taken from her bank accounts into accounts opened by the suspects using false documentation.
“After these acts to the detriment of the victim’s assets were completed, the victim was tied to a tree, in a remote location, so that he wouldn’t be discovered and would collapse there, a fact that only didn’t happen because the victim managed to free himself,” reads the note.
The 82-year-old Portuguese man was kidnapped on August 25 and needed hospital treatment in Spain due to the injuries he suffered at the hands of the detainees, who have a criminal record for theft crimes in Spain. The note does not mention how long the kidnapping took place.
The suspects, four men and two women aged between 21 and 43, were arrested during an operation that took place on December 13 in Spain, in the Málaga area, and which included members of the Judicial Police.
From the outset, the investigation required constant sharing of police information between Portugal and Spain, says the PJ, which investigated the case together with the Catalan General Police (Mossos d’Esquadra) and the National Police Force (CNP).
The search resulted in the seizure of a firearm and replica firearms used in the criminal actions, as well as material intended for counterfeiting and falsifying identification documents, and also false documentation.
Two vehicles with Portuguese license plates that had been stolen in Portugal were also recovered.
During the operation, several house searches were carried out which led to the arrest of the six people on suspicion of kidnapping, robbery with a firearm, criminal association and money laundering.
On December 17, investigations were carried out in Lisbon and other suspects were identified who were presumably involved in this criminal network.
Investigations are continuing with the aim of identifying other criminal facts related to the group under investigation, concludes the PJ.
The Faro Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP) is in charge of the investigation and it is expected that the entities involved in this investigation will provide additional clarifications to the media today in Barcelona.