Torture network and crypto-extortion: Heavy sentences for the Franco-Moroccan gang arrested in Tangier

The justice system has ruled in this case of unheard-of violence, sentencing two defendants to fourteen years in prison and five others to twelve years. As VRT NWS indicates, the gang had been intercepted a year ago in Braine-l’Alleud by the French and Belgian police, as they were about to kidnap the relatives of an investor who had made a fortune in virtual currencies.

On Bladi.net: Morocco: Badiss Mohamed, the alleged mastermind of crypto-kidnappings, also active in Belgium

At the top of this criminal organization stands Badiss Mohamed Amide Bajjou, a 24-year-old Franco-Moroccan. Considered the true mastermind of this operation and suspected of multiple kidnappings in France, this man actively sought by Interpol was finally arrested in northern Morocco, in Tangier, in June 2025. The judicial investigation against him is still ongoing.

The intervention of the law enforcement agencies had made it possible to avoid the worst. Investigators discovered a real house of horrors in Gerpinnes, with the furniture and walls covered with plastic sheeting. On site, the police seized saws, hammers, pliers and clamps, stressing that the suspects were carrying "equipment to confine and torture individuals". During the trial, it was also revealed that one of the accused had already mutilated the finger of a victim during a previous kidnapping.

On Bladi.net: Abderrahman Laktit, a "dangerous criminal" of Moroccan origin, wanted by the Belgian police

This targeting of digital investors is part of a growing criminal trend. Extortions related to cryptocurrencies are multiplying, like the violent kidnapping of the wife of influencer Stephane Winkel at the end of 2024, for which the criminals had demanded an astronomical ransom of eleven million euros in bitcoins.