Morocco arrests key suspect in French crypto kidnapping spree

Moroccan authorities have arrested Badiss Mohamed Amide Bajjou, a French-Moroccan national accused of playing a leading role in a string of high-profile kidnappings targeting cryptocurrency executives and their families in France.

Per a local media report, Bajjou was apprehended on Wednesday, June 4, in the northern Moroccan city of Tangier.

Acting on a 2023 Interpol red notice requested by French authorities, Morocco’s National Brigade of the Judicial Police and the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance launched a coordinated operation that led to Bajjou’s arrest in Tangier.

The 24-year-old, originally from Le Chesnay, west of Paris, was reportedly found in possession of multiple bladed weapons and a cache of mobile phones and communication devices.

Moroccan police also recovered a sum of cash suspected of being linked to criminal activity. The seized electronics are now undergoing technical analysis.

French prosecutors allege Bajjou is behind several violent abduction plots, including the January kidnapping of David Balland, co-founder of Ledger, a prominent French crypto wallet provider.

According to investigative sources cited by Le Parisien, Balland was tortured during the ordeal, with one of his fingers severed by the kidnappers in a bid to extort a multimillion-euro crypto ransom. Bajjou is believed to have played a central role in orchestrating that attack.

Bajjou’s detention adds momentum to a sweeping investigation into a spate of crypto-targeted kidnappings across France.

On May 13, masked assailants tried to kidnap the daughter and grandson of Pierre Noizat, CEO of the crypto exchange Paymium, in broad daylight in central Paris. The attack, captured on video by passersby, was foiled by bystanders and forced the attackers to flee the scene in a van.

Ten days earlier, on May 3, police rescued the father of a wealthy crypto entrepreneur, who had been held captive for several days. In that case, the attackers used a stolen van disguised with a fake courier logo and demanded a €7 million ransom in cryptocurrency.

Following these incidents, French officials launched a series of countermeasures, including stepped-up surveillance of crypto executives and their families, access to emergency police lines, and home security audits.

A major breakthrough came on May 27, when police conducted coordinated raids across Île-de-France and Loire-Atlantique, arresting over a dozen suspects. 

These operations were led by the Brigade de Répression du Banditisme, France’s elite anti-gang unit. The arrests revealed a loosely organised but well-connected network that allegedly recruited young operatives via social media.

By May 31, French prosecutors had formally charged 25 individuals, some as young as 16, in connection with the attempted kidnappings. Authorities believe most of the detainees served as foot soldiers or logistics handlers, while the masterminds remained at large, until Bajjou’s arrest this week.

Investigators say the charged individuals were involved in coordinated attacks using stolen vehicles, fake courier branding, and pre-planned surveillance. Many of the suspects are from the Paris region, though others hail from countries including Senegal, Angola, and Russia.