According to Cointelegraph, a man accused of being one of the masterminds behind a series of recent kidnapping cases in France that attempted to obtain cryptocurrencies was successfully arrested in Morocco recently.
At the urgent request of the French law enforcement department, the Moroccan National Police and intelligence department acted promptly and identified and arrested Badiss Mohamed Amide Bajjou. The 24-year-old French-Moroccan man was found carrying multiple knives and several mobile phones when he was arrested. These items may be closely related to the case he was involved in.
Since the beginning of this year, a series of shocking kidnapping cases have occurred one after another in the French cryptocurrency field. On May 1st, a man in his sixties was forcibly pushed into a van disguised as a UPS delivery vehicle by four masked men in the 14th arrondissement of Paris and taken away. He is the father of a young entrepreneur who made his fortune through online poker and virtual currency. The kidnappers then demanded a ransom of 5 to 7 million euros in virtual currency from his son, threatened him in a cruel way of cutting off his finger, and also shot a video and sent it to the family.
On May 13th, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, the daughter of Pierre Noizat, the CEO of the French cryptocurrency trading platform Paymium, nearly was forcibly abducted by three armed and masked men. The vehicle used in the crime was marked with the “Chronopost” logo. Fortunately, passers-by and the woman’s partner intervened to stop the kidnappers, which eventually enabled them to escape.
The modus operations of such cases are similar. The police believe that there is a high possibility that the same criminal network exists behind them. They hire young and violent “executors” through social platforms and specifically target families related to cryptocurrency wealth. Previously, on the early morning of May 26th, the Paris police launched a large-scale arrest operation and arrested more than ten suspects suspected of being involved in a cryptocurrency-related kidnapping case, but the mastermind has remained at large.
The arrest of Badiss Mohamed Amide Bajjou this time is a major breakthrough in the investigation of the cryptocurrency kidnapping case in France. Morocco and France have maintained certain ties in the field of judicial cooperation. Previously, there have been precedents of cooperation in combating transnational crimes and extraditing suspects. The successful arrest of the suspect this time demonstrates the determination of the two countries to collaborate in combating cross-border crimes. As the investigation progresses, it is expected that more details about the criminal network will be disclosed. The subsequent development of the case deserves close attention. The French police will also spare no effort to ensure that such violent criminal acts targeting cryptocurrency practitioners and their families are effectively curbed.
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