French authorities have arrested five suspects after holding a magistrate and her mother hostage for 30 hours last week in a cryptocurrency ransom plot.
Four men and one woman were detained, three overnight and two early Sunday, Lyon prosecutor Thierry Dran told Agence France-Presse.
The men were taken into custody after a 35-year-old magistrate and her 67-year-old mother were found in a garage in the south-east Drome department on Friday morning. Two women were found injured.
Two of those arrested overnight were detained while trying to take a bus to Spain, said a source close to the case who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Authorities are continuing to search for additional suspects, a second source close to the case said, adding that the woman in custody is the partner of one of the four male suspects.
A massive police search involving 160 officers was launched after he received a message from the kidnappers demanding a ransom in cryptocurrency and a photo of his partner.
Threatened to dismember their victims if the transfer was not made soon, Dran told reporters, declining to specify the amount demanded.
The two women managed to free themselves and called for help, banging on the garage door. “Alert by the noise, a neighbor intervened. He was able to open the door and allow our two victims to escape,” Dron said. According to the prosecutor, they were rescued in Bourges-les-Valence on Friday morning without paying any ransom.
French authorities are dealing with a series of kidnappings and extortion attempts targeting families of wealthy individuals who deal in cryptocurrencies.
In January 2025, Kidnappers captured French crypto boss David Balland and his partner. Balaland co-founded the crypto firm Ledger, which at the time was valued at over $1bn. The kidnappers cut off his finger and demanded a huge ransom. He was freed the next day and his partner was captured in the boot of a car outside Paris.
In May, the father of a man who runs a Malta-based cryptocurrency company was kidnapped by four hooded men in Paris. The victim, whose finger was also amputated by the kidnappers and a ransom of several million euros was demanded for him, was released after 58 hours in a raid by security forces.
