Spanish National Police rescued a man after he was kidnapped in the Andalucían province of Málaga and shoved into the trunk of a vehicle — by taking a photo of the abductor’s car’s steering wheel.
The unnamed man managed to contact his girlfriend, without his abductors knowing, by sending her a photo of the steering wheel, in which the logo of the vehicle’s brand could be seen. It was the key piece of evidence in finding the victim after the police had become aware of the kidnapping on Jan. 23. It took under 16 hours to locate him.
He also managed to send videos to his girlfriend, showing his kidnappers threatening him with a gun while interrogating him about a third party who had allegedly defrauded the group of kidnappers of 30,000 euros (nearly C$45,069.90), according to the police report.
The victim had been taken by a group of men travelling in two cars, who were looking for information on the other man who allegedly owed the group the money from a drug deal.
He was abducted on a seafront public street in the Malaga town of Sabinillas, forced into the trunk of one of the cars.
While the victim was held hostage he managed to send his girlfriend and a friend both of the photographs, which included geographic coordinates that placed him on a street in Torre del Mar.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
“Officers then headed immediately to the location, where they found a parked car that matched the make and model of the vehicle in the victim’s photo,” the police said in the report. “They then discovered another vehicle in the same area, which matched one of the cars used in the kidnapping in Sabinillas.
“A few hours later, the agents spotted two vehicles parked near the previous ones, one of them matching the make, model and colour of the other car used in the kidnapping. It was at that moment that the investigators observed how, from the last mentioned vehicle, the victim was taken out of the back to be placed in the central rear of another of the cars.”
The agents began to follow the vehicle, which was finally intercepted while travelling on a motorway in the direction of Malaga.
According to the report, the victim was healthy and uninjured and officers have arrested four people as alleged perpetrators of the crime of kidnapping, belonging to a criminal organization and illegal possession of weapons.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
