OAP kidnapped from Algarve found tied to a tree in Barcelona in Brazilian gang scam

A PENSIONER kidnapped from an Algarve resort was found tied to a tree in Barcelona, in an elaborate scam involving Brazilian gang members.

Spanish police said on Thursday that the gang was captured earlier this month and had been targeting Portuguese nationals with extreme violence to extort money from them.

Three of the nine people arrested were described as Brazilians in their mid-20s and are believed to have led the express kidnapping of an 82-year-old Portuguese businessman, as well as attempting another violent capture of a woman from Setúbal, near Lisbon.

The elderly man reported his kidnapping to police in the picturesque hillside village of Collbató, about 30 miles inland from Barcelona, in late August.

He said he had been left tied to a tree in a wooded area near Montserrat mountain before managing to free himself. It was only after his tale had been corroborated by police in Portugal, who said the man’s son had reported him missing, that his claims were taken seriously.

Police in Portugal found that the kidnappers had been following the man, who owned a nightclub, and arranged to meet him under the pretext of being potential buyers of a house he was selling in Almancil, on the Algarve. Upon more than 22,000 miles above Earth. China’s space plane can currently only launch on a Long March 2F rocket, meaning it cannot go further than lowEarth orbit.

Military interest in space has been growing in recent years, with several meeting him, the man was bundled into the boot of his own car and beaten into revealing his bank details.

A sum of €100,000 was then transferred in small amounts to online accounts in France and Lithuania.

“They were a very professional organisation but there is always an error. In this case, it was the purchase of a phone and a case,” said Ch Insp Juan Castillo of Alicante Judicial Police’s organised crime squad.

Tracking that mobile phone allowed the police to locate one of the gang members in Alicante, where he was arrested entering a brothel with a gun to carry out a robbery, he added, and from there to detain other members.

countries, including China, testing anti-satellite missiles and jamming systems, as well as creating manoeuvrable satellites that can destroy spacecraft.

Satellites are crucial in modern warfare, providing drone targeting, location and navigation aid, surveillance and reconnaissance. Experts have warned that without GPS, bombs and nuclear missiles become much less accurate. It is estimated China will have 200 anti-satellites devices in orbit by 2026.

The 29ft-long Boeing-made X-37B is a small version of Nasa’s Space Shuttle and has enough fuel to stay in space for more than three years.

Thursday’s launch came after two weeks of false starts and delays attributed to bad weather and technical problems.