Spanish police on Thursday arrested five people and charged four others in Denmark for the kidnapping and murder of a man who was targeted for his cryptocurrency.
The police operation dismantled what authorities described as a criminal group operating across borders to steal cryptocurrency.
The investigation began in April when a woman arrived at a police station in Málaga to report that she and her partner had been abducted in the nearby city of Mijas. According to the police, the couple was attacked by three or four masked men dressed in black and armed with handguns.
The man was shot in the leg as he tried to flee and both were then forced into a vehicle and taken to a house where they were held for several hours.
The attackers tried to access the couple’s crypto wallets during the ordeal. The woman was released around midnight, but her partner’s deceased body was later found in a wooded area. He showed signs of violence beyond the gunshot wound, according to police.
Authorities carried out six raids on homes across Madrid and Málaga and seized two handguns – one real, one fake – a baton, bloodstained clothes, mobile devices and documents.
Biological evidence linked to the site was also found. Danish police, in collaboration with their Spanish colleagues, have charged four people in connection with the case. Two have already been jailed for similar crimes.
The case points to a growing trend: physical attacks aimed at extracting access to crypto wallets. These attacks have had an impact on the crypto space this year, leading to campaigns against what have become known as wrench attacks.
