French police have arrested six suspects, including a child, after a magistrate and her mother were held captive for about 30 hours in a cryptocurrency ransom plot. The arrests follow the discovery of the 35-year-old magistrate and her 67-year-old mother in a garage in the south-east Drôme department on Friday morning. Both women were found injured.
The Lyon prosecutor, Thierry Dran, confirmed the arrests, with four men and one woman detained overnight and on Sunday morning, and a child arrested on Sunday afternoon. Two of those arrested were attempting to take a bus to Spain, according to a source close to the case. Authorities are continuing to search for further suspects, and the woman in custody is the partner of one of the male suspects.
The kidnapping came to light after the magistrate's partner received a message and a photo of her from the kidnappers, who demanded a ransom in cryptocurrency. The captors threatened to mutilate their victims if the transfer was not made quickly. The exact amount demanded has not been disclosed.
The two women managed to free themselves and call for help by banging on the garage door. A neighbour intervened, opened the door, and allowed them to escape. They were rescued on Friday morning in Bourg-lès-Valence without any ransom being paid, according to the prosecutor.
France has seen a series of kidnappings targeting the families of wealthy individuals involved in cryptocurrencies. In January, kidnappers seized French crypto boss David Balland, co-founder of Ledger, and his partner, cutting off his finger before he was freed. In May, the father of a Malta-based cryptocurrency company owner was kidnapped and also had a finger severed before being rescued after 58 hours.
