Convicted of kidnapping a man after losing 29,000 euros in a drug operation

The Third Section of the Provincial Court of Almería has sentenced three defendants to sentences of between three and four years in prison for the kidnapping of a man whom they blamed for the disappearance of 29,000 euros, money linked to a drug trafficking operation..

The sentence, consulted by EFE, indicates that the accused MAFT. intervened in a drug sale operation in which an acquaintance of the kidnapped had participated and in which said amount was lost. MAFT. He contacted the victim to meet him on the esplanade located next to the Mediterranean Games stadium in the capital of Almería, and around 8:45 p.m. on September 23, the accused arrived at this place in a vehicle accompanied by the others. two prosecuted. Once there, a “tense” conversation began in the middle of which another of the accused grabbed the victim between the shoulder and neck to force him into the car.. The victim did not resist their pressure and got into the car out of fear..

There they told him in an “intimidating” manner that, until the money stolen from MAFT appeared, they would not release him, but the next morning they decided to release him on the advice of the accused's father-in-law.. They then began the trip back to Almería, although they were intercepted around 2:15 p.m. near the municipality of Viator by the National Police.. Along with them was another man who was tried with the three convicted defendants, and who has been acquitted..

The magistrates highlighted the behavior of one of the three accused with respect to the kidnapped person, “in part to avoid greater suffering that must be taken into consideration when imposing the sentence, which should not exceed the minimum of three years in prison.” . However, regarding MAFT and the third defendant, “the same reflection cannot be reached, since they are the true executing arms of the kidnapping, directly using the most serious acts of intimidation, such as when MAFT tells the other to take a gun.” , or like when the latter tells the victim that he is the only kidnapped person who hasn't had something cut off.”

For this reason, the latter two have been sentenced to individual sentences of four years in prison for the crime of kidnapping, while the third defendant is sentenced to three years for this crime.