Spanish authorities apprehended five individuals and indicted four more in Denmark on Thursday in connection with the kidnapping and murder of a man targeted for his cryptocurrency assets.
This police operation dismantled what officials described as an international criminal group engaged in cryptocurrency theft.
The investigation commenced in April when a woman reported at a Málaga police station that she and her partner had been kidnapped in Mijas. According to police, the couple was ambushed by three or four masked assailants armed with firearms.
The man sustained a gunshot wound to the leg while attempting to flee, and they were subsequently forced into a vehicle and taken to a location where they were detained for several hours.
During this time, the perpetrators attempted to access the couple’s cryptocurrency wallets. The woman was released around midnight, but authorities later discovered her partner’s lifeless body in a forested area, showing signs of severe violence beyond the gunshot wound.
Officials executed six searches at residences in Madrid and Málaga, seizing two firearms—one real and one imitation—a baton, blood-stained clothing, mobile devices, and various documents.
Biological evidence linked to the crime scene was also collected. Working in partnership with Danish police, four suspects have been charged in this matter, two of whom are already incarcerated for similar offenses.
This incident underscores an alarming trend: physical assaults aimed at obtaining access to cryptocurrency wallets. Such attacks have significantly impacted the crypto landscape this year, prompting initiatives against these incidents, commonly referred to as wrench attacks.
