Man kidnapped, beaten, stabbed and left unconscious in Malaga during a settling of scores between rival drug gangs

Five people have been arrested after a drug dealer was kidnapped, stabbed and beaten unconscious in a settling of scores incident between rival gangs in Malaga province.

Two people - of Spanish and Portuguese nationality - belonging to a criminal gang travelled by car from Badajoz to Cártama where they had arranged to meet two other traffickers, from another gang.

They went there to negotiate a hashish transaction, but the traffickers had other ideas. They had hatched a plan to stay alone with one of the victims in order to take revenge, supposedly for an old dispute over money, according to police investigators.

In order to get the victim alone with them, while the meeting was taking place in the bar, other gang members punctured the tyre of his vehicle. While the victim's companion arranged for the repair, the victim left with the dealers of the opposing group, thinking they were going to get the drugs that were to be purchased.

Instead, however, they drove the victim to the outskirts of Cártama, where other members of the gang were waiting for them. According to Guardia Civil, they started to beat the man, who was also stabbed, and eventually lost consciousness.

According to the police, the suspects left the injured man half-naked, stole his mobile phone and the money he was carrying (600 euros) and left him abandoned, despite being seriously injured. They then called the victim's accomplice and demanded 18,000 euros from him as a ransom.

Six people, aged between 19 and 31, were involved. Three of them were arrested in Melilla, a fourth in Malaga and another in Barcelona. The last one is still at large. The five people arrested have been brought before the courts as alleged perpetrators of the crime of illegal detention, injuring with a bladed weapon and robbery with violence.