Overview
- A 33-year-old Canadian tourist was seized outside a restaurant on Calle Claudio Coello on Monday night and forced into a rented van, police said.
- Witnesses alerted officers who found the vehicle near Atocha in about ten minutes, detaining two men as a third fled on foot.
- The victim suffered severe head and facial injuries, was bound with plastic zip ties, and was allegedly forced to ingest a pill; he was treated at a hospital.
- Officers recovered false license plates, restraints, and a pill blister from the van, whose GPS was set for Petrer in Alicante, indicating plans to move the victim out of Madrid.
- Police believe the motive was to coerce access to the victim's cryptocurrency accounts, noting the group had traveled from Barcelona and had tried to take his luxury watch.