Three British men have been arrested in Spain following a dramatic armed police raid over the alleged kidnapping of a cryptocurrency broker on the Costa del Sol.
The suspects were detained after demanding €30,000 (£25,000) for the release of their victim, who they had held captive in an apartment in Estepona.
Spanish police released footage showing officers surrounding an Audi as the trio attempted to flee, before arresting them at gunpoint.
The operation came after the 34-year-old victim managed to escape by jumping from a balcony, breaking his ankles in the process.
The arrests were made at an apartment on the Costa Del Sol
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The victim had initially met his captors during a chance meeting at a Marbella hotel two weeks before the incident. The group had struck up a conversation and later shared a meal together on the day of the kidnapping.
Following dinner, the cryptocurrency broker accepted an invitation for drinks at their apartment in the nearby resort of Estepona.
Police believe the suspects targeted the trader after learning about his profession during their earlier encounters, realising he had access to substantial amounts of cryptocurrency.
During his captivity, the victim devised an escape plan by pretending to call a customer for a crypto wallet access code. Instead, he called a friend in London, explaining his situation in Hindi - a language his captors could not understand.
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The arrests were made at the apartment
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The friend alerted the victim's mother, who contacted police, triggering an operation to locate the Estepona property. As officers prepared to raid the apartment, the victim seized a moment when one of his captors was distracted by a mobile phone.
He then made his dramatic escape, leaping more than 30 feet from a balcony despite the injuries it would cause.
Officers discovered more than £8,000 in euros during a search of the apartment, alongside two firearms hidden in kitchen cupboards.
Three knives, including a butterfly knife, and 25 grams of pink cocaine were also seized, along with two designer watches and a money-counting machine.
The police entered the apartment
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A spokesman for the National Police in Malaga said: "Three men have arrested on suspicion of kidnap, wounding, membership of a criminal organisation, unlawful weapons possession and drugs trafficking."
The suspects were apprehended as they attempted to escape in a high-powered vehicle. The three British suspects have been remanded to prison following a court appearance.
Police sources confirmed only one of the detainees was previously known to authorities in Spain, though all three are believed to have criminal records in the UK for weapons and drugs offences.
During the victim's ordeal, the kidnappers had tied him up and threatened to kill him unless he accessed his clients' crypto wallets. While the victim was assaulted during his captivity, he avoided the torture that his captors had threatened if their demands weren't met.
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