Swiss national held captive in France over cryptocurrencies: 12 more suspects charged

Six months after the kidnapping and confinement of a Swiss national in the Drôme region for a ransom in cryptocurrency, further arrests have been made. Eighteen people were arrested and taken into custody last week, the National Gendarmerie announced in a press release on Tuesday, March 10. Following their detention, 12 of those arrested were formally charged on Thursday and Friday, but the gendarmerie did not specify the charges. Three of them were placed in pre-trial detention while the other nine were placed under judicial supervision, the gendarmerie stated. The large-scale operation was carried out on March 2nd and mobilized a total of more than 450 gendarmes from the Grenoble Research Section, the Drôme Gendarmerie Group, as well as military personnel from the National Judicial Police Unit, the GIGN, and units from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Occitanie, and Île-de-France. Seven initial suspects were imprisoned last year. According to the National Gendarmerie, this operation is the result of "numerous investigations" which have The investigation lasted "several months" under the authority of an investigating magistrate from the Specialized Interregional Jurisdiction (JIRS) of Lyon. This investigation allowed for the "identification and implication, to varying degrees, of around twenty additional individuals." The kidnapping victim, a 22-year-old Swiss man, was held captive between August 28 and 31 and was freed following a raid by the GIGN (National Gendarmerie Intervention Group) near the Valence train station. Originally from the canton of Vaud, he had been "seriously mistreated and injured" during his captivity, according to Swiss police. Subsequently, seven people were quickly apprehended, including a 17-year-old minor, and then taken into custody before being formally charged and placed in pretrial detention.