Kirsty Mckenzie
A CRIMINAL gang who covered their victim in ice packs and placed him in front of an electric fan before torturing him for five days as part of a €1.5million ransom plot have been jailed in Malaga.
The Belgian man suffered blows all over the body and was deprived of sleep during the terrifying ordeal.
At one stage his brutal captors covered him in ice and placed an electric fan in front of him to cause hypothermia as the gang demanded a €1.5million ransom payment from his family.
In September a gang of five hooded men grabbed the Belgium national at gunpoint as he was about to get into his car in San Pedro de Alcantara on the Costa del Sol.
He was then driven to a rural house in Coin, 30km inland and held for five days until he was finally rescued by police.
At Examining Court Number One in Marbella, a judge has ordered the imprisonment of four of the twelve arrested.
Investigations believe the kidnapping was in reprisal for the theft of a €1.5-million drug shipment, which was stolen from one of the members of the gang.
The gang made a demand for the same amount from the victim’s family but instead they sought the help of the police.
On September 15 police arrested 12 perpetrators, four French nationals and eight Spanish citizens aged between 19 and 51 years of age.
Police say the operation, which involved 70 police officers, managed to snare the ringleader of the group.
They were all members of a huge criminal network who specialise in international drug trafficking between Malaga and Spain’s city enclave in north Africa, Ceuta.
The major drug smuggling organisation includes members who have multiple records of violent crimes, drug trafficking, illegal possession of weapons and homicide.
During the operation, which included raids the Malaga towns of Marbella, Coin and Benalmadena, police seized six luxury watches, three vehicles and €6,400 cash.
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