They are investigating a new case of a kidnapped man, the fourth in a month

BarcelonaNew case of illegal detention in Catalonia, again linked to drug trafficking. This Sunday at 9:30 p.m. in Calella, in the Maresme region, a witness alerted that a group of hooded people had gotten out of a car and forcibly taken a man, and then had fled at high speed. At this time, according to police sources, the victim has not yet appeared. Sources consulted by ARA do confirm that it is a case linked to drug trafficking, according to the initial investigations carried out by specialists from the DIC (Criminal Investigation Division).

This is the fourth case in a month of this type of illegal detention in Catalonia. The first was in Gavà, where at the beginning of the month they shot a motorcyclist, kidnapped him, and left him seriously injured in Sabadell. Last weekend it was on the AP-7 in Montornès del Vallès, when fake police officers crashed into a car and forcibly kidnapped the passenger. He appeared a few hours later a few kilometers away, and everything is allegedly linked to a marijuana plantation that the police dismantled in 2025. The next day there was another one in Barcelona and the victim appeared seriously injured at a gas station in Salt.

Nine cases in one year

During 2026, in Catalonia, eight cases of kidnappings or illegal detentions linked to organized crime have been registered, the last three concentrated in fifteen days. Now, with this Sunday's case, there are already nine episodes. Police sources, however, also admit that there is a dark figure of unreported cases, since the victims are usually involved in crimes and do not tend to go to the police.

As explained this Monday by ARA, this type of illegal detention, often linked to intimidation over drug debts, is also on the rise in Spain and Europe, with several similar cases that have been recorded during this year. Police sources frame this within the wave of violence between drug cartels detected in recent years.