Spanish Police Arrest Five in Cross-Border Crypto Kidnapping Case

Spanish National Police have arrested five suspects, charged four others in Denmark on Thursday, and dismantled an organization that was allegedly involved in the kidnapping and murder of a man in Mijas (Málaga) to steal his individual crypto holdings. The Spanish National Police confirmed the arrest and thanked Danish authorities for their cooperation in charging four additional suspects linked to the crime, who are currently in Denmark. The collaborative investigation of Spanish and Danish authorities conducted multiple raids and seized plenty of weapons and electronic devices used for organized criminal activities. The Spanish police have confirmed that the criminals are part of a cross-border criminal group focused on assaulting individual crypto holdings and targeting digital assets through violent activities.

Ministerio del Interior, the Spanish government department, similar to the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Justice in the U.S, has released a press release confirming the arrest. The press release explained that in April 2025, the criminal group had assaulted a couple and, after shooting the man, had forced them both into a house where they were held for several hours while the kidnappers tried to access their digital wallets to steal the cryptocurrencies. It was reported that at midnight, the woman had been released by her captors, while her partner had remained missing until his body was found in a wooded area of Mijas. 

According to the police reports, the investigation started after the woman registered a complaint of abduction at the Málaga police station. The police explained that the couple was assaulted by three or four masked men dressed in black with armed handguns before stealing their digital assets.     

The police didn’t specify when the arrest took place, but the arrest was recorded after they searched homes in Madrid and Malaga, and seized multiple pistols and some other evidence, including a pair of pants with traces of blood. Tribuna Digital7, a Spanish-language independent news outlet focused on investigative journalism, reported that in the searches carried out, two short firearms had been found, one real and one simulated, a telescopic baton, a balaclava, pants with blood stains, as well as biological traces compatible with the blood found in the house where the victims had been held. It was also reported that various documentation of interest to the case had been seized, in addition to multiple electronic devices and mobile phones. Along with the five arrested suspects, four additional individuals have been charged in Denmark, two of whom are already in prison for similar offenses. 

Spanish Crypto Kidnap and Murder Case Highlights the Growing Trend of “Wrench Attacks.”

Authorities have confirmed that the recent Spanish kidnapping and murder case is something that can be categorized under “Wrench Attacks”, which is a term used for physical assault and violence against crypto holders aimed at threatening them to hand over wallet access and sensitive information like private keys. Multiple factors are fueling the rise of wrench attacks in the world; an important reason is crypto’s rising value. The rising value of digital assets, including crypto, makes them lucrative targets. The public visibility of large‑scale crypto holders plays a major role, as criminals specifically target these individuals to steal digital assets. They believe that once a transfer is forced, it becomes irreversible and untraceable, despite the existence of blockchain analytics tools. 

Wrench attacks are a global issue; multiple attacks have been reported in countries like France and the United States. It is a dangerous form of organized crime, and the evolution of crypto-related crime from hacks to physical assaults against individuals and murders is scary.        

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