He tried to live with a very low profile, going from city to city, sleeping in tourist apartments, or with relatives, and not staying long in any place. The discreet escape through Spain of a 24-year-old man of Tunisian origin ended last Friday, March 13, when he was detained by the Civil Guard in Benalmádena (Málaga) amidst strong security measures.
The secrecy of this man, whose identity has not been revealed, contrasts with the spectacular nature of the events for which French justice is demanding him. It was the last piece that the French Gendarmerie needed to reunite the dozen of those involved and their wife, committed on January 21, 2025 in the city of Vierzon, 200 kilometers south of Paris. The kidnappers demanded 10 million euros to return them alive. During the 48 hours that they were held, they even cut off two of the businessman’s fingers to pressure them to make the payment.
The kidnappers played hard. Three hooded men attacked the couple with firearms in their home, just when they had just dropped the children off at school. They were immediately taken out of there and separated. Éric Larchevêque, partner of the kidnapped businessman, raised the alert after receiving a video with a severed finger of David Balland, accompanied by a ransom request. The couple was released after a spectacular deployment in which more than 230 agents were mobilized. They arrested at least 11 people involved, according to information from the French authorities.
One year, one month and 20 days after the kidnapping, the fugitive arrested on the Costa del Sol once again remembered what he had been fleeing from. The French authorities are demanding him for crimes of kidnapping, money laundering, extortion and reception.
Three months from city to city
The agents of the Central Operational Unit (UC0) of the Civil Guard had been tracking him for about three months over a distance of about 1,000 kilometers. He passed through Valencia, Seville, Cádiz and Málaga, where they were finally able to arrest him.
They detected him for the first time in Valencia. He moved around the city with his girlfriend, a French national, and with a friend, also Tunisian. Those days they stayed in vacation apartments that they rented through the internet. They paid their daily expenses with a third party’s bank card, as reported this Friday by the Civil Guard.
From Valencia, the arrested man traveled to Seville, he stayed with relatives. Shortly after, they traveled to the Costa del Sol again. Their life in Benalmádena was quite discreet, according to sources familiar with the investigation. The agents managed to locate him in an area of the city, around Bonanza Avenue, and when they saw one of his companions, they began a series of surveillance until they found him.
Being involved in such a violent kidnapping, Civil Guard agents ordered an arrest operation with great security measures. The surroundings of the courts in the neighboring town of Torremolinos were filled with police vehicles that Friday. Neighbors uploaded videos to social media of a helicopter flying over the area. From Malaga, he has been transferred to the National Court, in charge of processing his extradition.
This event had a great media coverage in France because it coincided with one and her relatives. The advantages of these currencies, which operate quickly and anonymously, are a draw for organized crime. The French Government later met with representatives of the sector, which is growing in expansion and relevance in the financial system, to propose some measures to increase its security.
