The victim, “between life and death”, was found on March 8 in the departmental forest of Migelane, in the commune of Martillac, in Gironde. Five men in their twenties were indicted and imprisoned on Thursday for the kidnapping followed by mutilation or permanent disability, in an organized gang, of this forty-year-old kidnapped in early March on drug trafficking funds, announced the public prosecutor’s office. Agen (Lot-et-Garonne).
The forty-year-old had notably been violently hit in the face. Now out of a coma, his state of health remains worrying. The day before the discovery of the victim, around 11:30 p.m., the Lot-et-Garonne gendarmerie received a call from a witness “after the kidnapping of a person”, which occurred in the parking lot of a supermarket in Castelmoron- sur-Lot.
Forced into an automobile
According to this testimony, “several individuals walked towards a vehicle that was parked there, and attacked one of its occupants, beating him. He was then forced by his attackers into another car, which quickly left the scene,” said public prosecutor Olivier Naboulet.
Investigators from the Agen branch of the Bordeaux research section, helped by the Tonneins research brigade, linked the two cases following “the identification of the victim”, said the magistrate.
The victim and four of the defendants known to the justice system
According to the first elements of the investigation, which will have to “determine the responsibilities of each person”, the facts appear “to be part of a settling of scores, against a backdrop of drug trafficking”.
Eight people were arrested Monday morning: in Mérignac, near Bordeaux, for seven of them, and near Mont-de-Marsan (Landes) for the last one. “The five accused admitted to being at the scene of the events,” added Olivier Naboulet. The victim and four of the defendants are known to the courts.