Latest news with #Mexicanization
Japan Today
27-05-2025
- Japan Today
France foils new crypto kidnapping plot
French police foiled a new kidnapping plot Monday in the western city of Nantes By Sabine COLPART France has foiled the latest in a spate of kidnapping plots targeting cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, and detained more than 20 people over that attempt and another against crypto boss Pierre Noizat's family, a police source said Tuesday. The new kidnapping attempt, near the western city of Nantes, was foiled on Monday before it was carried out, the police source said, without providing further details. It came after a series of attempted abductions targeting cryptocurrency traders and their families, prompting one prominent crypto entrepreneur to call on authorities to "stop the Mexicanization of France". Authorities on Monday and Tuesday arrested 24 people as part of a probe into the Nantes abduction attempt, as well as an investigation into the attempted kidnapping in mid-May of Noizat's pregnant daughter and young grandson. Noizat is the CEO and co-founder of Paymium, a French cryptocurrency exchange platform. "The entire commando unit was arrested," said the police source, referring to the attack on Noizat's family. The public prosecutor's office said it would issue a statement at a later date, probably on Friday. In an interview with BFM television, Noizat has praised his "heroic" son-in-law and a neighbor armed with a fire extinguisher, who thwarted the attempted kidnapping in broad daylight in the heart of Paris. The kidnappings have raised concerns about the security of wealthy crypto tycoons, who have notched up immense fortunes from the booming business. French authorities have also been investigating the May 1 abduction of a crypto-millionaire's father who was later rescued by police. The victim, for whom a ransom of several million euros was demanded, was freed after being held for more than two days, in a raid on a house outside Paris. Six people have been charged in connection with that kidnapping. Five of them -- aged 18 to 26 -- were being prosecuted for organized extortion, kidnapping and false imprisonment involving torture or acts of barbarity by an organized gang, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in early May. On January 21, kidnappers seized French crypto boss David Balland and his partner. Balland co-founded the crypto firm Ledger, valued at the time at more than $1 billion. Balland's finger was cut off by his kidnappers, who had demanded a hefty ransom. He was freed the next day, and his girlfriend was found tied up in the boot of a car outside Paris. At least nine suspects have been charged in that case, including the alleged mastermind. Ledger co-founder Eric Larcheveque, who received a ransom demand when Balland was kidnapped, urged authorities to "stop the Mexicanisation of France". Mexico has been plagued by drug-linked murders and disappearances for decades. "For several months now, there has been a rise in sordid kidnappings and attempted kidnappings. In broad daylight. In the heart of Paris," Larcheveque said on X. "Today, to succeed in France, whether in crypto-assets or elsewhere, is to put a target on your back." In mid-May, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau held an emergency meeting with crypto currency leaders, with the ministry announcing plans to bolster their security. © 2025 AFP
Epoch Times
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
French Justice Minister Announces Arrests Linked to Prison Attacks
French justice minister Gerald Darmanin has announced that suspects have been arrested in connection with multiple attacks carried out against French prisons. 'I would like to thank the magistrates and law enforcement officials who arrested early this morning those presumed to have been behind the attacks against our prisons and prison staff,' 'May the law and the Republic prevail in our relentless fight against drug trafficking,' he added. Authorities are probing a In the post, Darmanin shared an article by broadcaster RTL said that the 'wave of large-scale arrests' took place in the Paris region, but also in Marseille, Bordeaux, and Lyon in the early hours of the morning. Related Stories 4/16/2025 4/15/2025 Darmanin has 'The French Republic is facing up to the problem of drug trafficking and is taking measures that will massively disrupt the criminal networks,' he said. The unrest could also be linked to pro-prisoner activist groups. The letters 'DDPF'—an acronym for 'Défense des Droits des Prisonniers Français' (Defense of the Rights of French Prisoners) continue to be tagged on attack sites. Francetvinfo 'We are not terrorists; we are here to defend human rights inside prisons,' the group stated. Talking to French media Europe 1 on April 15, Darmanin was asked why he believed that it was drug gangs, rather than the 'ultra-left,' who were attacking prisons. Darmanin said he was 'not ruling anything out,' but when people 'fire Kalashnikovs' at prisons, that's more the 'modus operandi of delinquents—young criminals who might be paid a few thousand euros to do that kind of thing.' 'Social media now creates these kinds of mimetic moments that are indeed aimed at testing key areas of the country, at pushing the state back, at making prison officers afraid, at getting them to possibly call for a strike, and at sparking debates about whether the Minister of Justice is going too far in his firmness,' he said. 'So, we're not going to back down despite the threats.' In a Last year, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau warned that the emergence of 'narco-enclaves' posed a serious threat to the country. A deadly shootout on Nov. 1, 2024, in the once-peaceful French town of Poitiers, historically known for its medieval churches, resulted in the death of a 15-year-old boy, who was shot in the head—and left the nation shocked. The gunfight, which involved hundreds of people, was the latest in a wave of drug-related crimes that has transformed cities such as Poitiers, Rennes, and Marseille into battlegrounds, where even children are caught in the crossfire—shot, stabbed, and burned alive. In Poitiers, Retailleau raised alarms about the rise of these 'narco-enclaves,' comparing the situation to the growing control that drug cartels have in Mexico. Retailleau said that the country faces two choices: 'Either there is a general mobilization, or there is the Mexicanization of the country' or risk the formation of gang-controlled 'enclaves, mini-states, narco-enclaves' in French territory.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Donald Trump makes Mexican cartel leaders tremble. Or so they say
What a weird story. Members of the notorious Sinaloa cartel are petrified, their hands even 'trembling,' as they talk about the law enforcement crackdown on them. They are especially unnerved when they whisper — anonymously, of course — about Se·ñor Donald Trump and the big stick he carries in the form of the U.S. military. Trump threatens tariffs on Mexico and possible attacks on its cartels, putting so much pressure on the Mexican government that it turns around and puts the squeeze on the cartels, The New York Times reports. 'You can't be calm, you can't even sleep, because you don't know when they'll catch you,' one high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel told The Times. Whoa. Wait a second. This is the Mexican cartels? These are the guys who hang mutilated bodies like Christmas ornaments from highway overpasses, who torture prisoners with power drills before they burn them alive. These are the guys who gun down Mexican journalists in their driveways, who assassinated nearly 40 candidates in last summer's Mexican elections and who recently beheaded the mayor of a major city. The same guys who kill with such frequency that Mexico sustains a murder rate of about 30,000 people a year, three times greater than the United States, according to the Washington Post ... those guys? Mexico's 28 intentional homicides per 100,000 people, in fact, makes it one of the deadliest countries in the world, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime reports. And yet here's what The New York Times reported on Sunday: 'One cartel leader says he's trying to figure out how to protect his family in case the American military strikes inside Mexico. Another says he's already gone into hiding, rarely leaving his home. Two young men who produce fentanyl for the cartel say they have shut down all their drug labs.' Understand that the Mexican cartels are no longer local franchises. They're international conglomerates. They're the biggest criminal syndicates in the world. Their reach is so long that an unaffiliated newspaper, The Times of London, published this headline on Feb. 14: 'How drug cartels are turning France into 'the new Mexico'.' In 2024 alone, turf wars of rival trafficking gangs killed 110 people in France and injured another 341, the British newspaper reports. The gangs have reeked violence in places like Besançon, birthplace of literary great Victor Hugo and home of the renowned Saint-Pierre restaurant, celebrated for its lobster and scallops with truffles. Opinion: Every Arizona teen needs 'the talk' about Mexican cartels French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau says the drug gangs have become so powerful and violent that they are creating the 'Mexicanization' of France, The Times of London reported. But back in Mexico, in Culiacán, in the heart of Sinaloa, part of the roughly one-third of the country that the drug cartels control, the narcos are cowering in fear. At the thought of Donald Trump. Yes, there's a line deep in The New York Times' story on how the cartels would not 'just sit here with our arms crossed' if Americans start dropping commandos from choppers into the country, but mostly this is a story about their apprehensions and deep-seated fears. I trust that the Times is conveying faithfully what the cartels are telling them. This isn't a case of media bias. The Gray Lady swings left. This is one of its rare stories that swings right and makes Donald Trump look good. Only it reads like the kind of market-placement quotes you'd get from legitimate conglomerates, such as Amazon or Walmart or JP Morgan Chase. It's like Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos doing the Trump two-step to get in sync with the American vibe shift. Only, it's the Mexican cartels who are spinning like tops. And the whole thing is too weird to be true. Phil Boas is an editorial page columnist with The Arizona Republic. Email him at This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mexican cartel members claim fear of Trump. Don't believe it | Opinion
