19-05-2025
Algerian Spy Ring Behind Amir DZ Kidnapping Exposed
Doha – France's anti-terrorism authorities have uncovered a complex Algerian intelligence operation on French soil. Four more suspects were indicted Friday in the kidnapping of Algerian opposition figure Amir Boukhors, known as Amir DZ.
According to exclusive revelations by L'Express, French investigators have identified three Algerian spies who allegedly orchestrated the operation. The French magazine, citing two sources close to the case, reported that local criminals from Pontault-Combault were hired to execute the abduction.
The opposition influencer was kidnapped on April 29, 2024, near his home in Val-de-Marne. A commando team posing as police officers intercepted him around 11:30 p.m. They transported him to a waste disposal site in Pontault-Combault where four additional accomplices were waiting.
Boukhors was forcibly drugged with Zopiclone, a powerful sedative found later in his bloodstream. He woke up in a prefabricated building around 10 a.m. the next morning, guarded by two women who had been paid €1,000 each.
An anti-terrorism French judge's investigation reveals a shocking conclusion. The kidnapping aimed to forcibly transfer the influencer to Algeria via Spain, where a 20-year prison sentence awaited him. This mirrors the attempted abduction of dissident Hichem Aboud on October 17, 2024, in Barcelona.
Three-tier operation structure
Investigators from France's DGSI (internal intelligence) and the Paris criminal brigade believe three types of actors participated in this extraordinary operation: Algerian officials, intermediaries, and hired muscle. The scheme was carefully structured to avoid direct links between Algerian authorities and the kidnappers.
In addition to S.R., an Algerian consular agent already in custody, two Algerian diplomats played key roles. According to police, they are actually a non-commissioned officer and an officer of the DGDSE, Algeria's foreign intelligence services.
S.S. worked at the Algerian embassy in Paris under diplomatic cover as first secretary. He is suspected of actively participating by surveilling Amir Boukhors multiple times. His phone pinged near the influencer's car when a tracking device was likely installed.
The money trail provides damning evidence. On the night of April 29-30, S.S. withdrew €2,000 from an ATM in eastern Paris at 2:19 a.m.—exactly matching the amount promised to the two 'guards,' according to Boukhors' police statements.
Telephone location data places the suspects at strategic locations. The two officials' phones pinged at the Créteil consulate, along with K.S.M. and S.L., two men with criminal records now indicted and imprisoned alongside the consular agent. Later that night, several suspects' phones registered near the Pontault-Combault waste site.
Recruited criminals and escape
Among the newly indicted men, at least one belongs to the Romani community of Pontault-Combault. Amir Boukhors formally identified him as the man who handcuffed him on the night of the abduction. These 'muscle men' reportedly acted not out of ideology but for substantial payment.
Boukhors was eventually released in a forest during the night of April 30 to May 1. Hours after the influencer's release, S.R. boarded a flight from Orly to Algiers. When he returned to France in April 2025, investigators arrested him after noticing he had once again approached Boukhors' residence.
Diplomatic espionage network
The investigation has exposed a broader intelligence operation. H.B., deputy consul in Créteil, allegedly recruited and manipulated two French civil servants at the Ministry of Finance and the French Immigration Office (OFII) to obtain addresses of Algerian political refugees in France, including Amir Boukhors.
The Finance Ministry official, previously awarded the internal security medal in 2017, was initially recruited through 'friendship' before being subjected to blackmail. This official then convinced a department head at OFII to collaborate with Algerian intelligence services.
Legal actions and diplomatic crisis
The French judge has qualified the operation as an 'association of terrorist criminals.' According to the investigating judge, the kidnapping aimed to send an intimidation message to all Algerian opposition figures.
Attorney Eric Plouvier, representing Amir DZ, has requested an international arrest warrant against S.S. from the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT). The two diplomats implicated as intelligence officers reportedly left France months ago.
The arrests have intensified the diplomatic crisis between Paris and Algiers. Denying any involvement in Amir DZ's kidnapping, the Tebboune regime retaliated by expelling 12 French agents from Algeria. France applied the same measure in return.
The crisis escalated further when Algeria demanded the immediate repatriation of fifteen additional French agents on Sunday, May 11.
Ongoing investigation
Several aspects of the case remain unresolved. At least four commando members have not yet been arrested. A source close to the case claims one of the 'muscle men' has previously been convicted of homicide.
The investigation raises a troubling question: how high in the Algerian power structure was this 'terrorist' operation approved? In September 2024, General Rochdi Fethi Moussaoui, who was DGDSE station chief in Paris at the time of the events, was promoted to DGDSE director in Algiers by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. He has since maintained he 'was not aware' of the unprecedented aggression.
This case lays bare the ruthless and brazen infiltration of Algerian intelligence services deep into French territory, sending shockwaves through diplomatic circles and exposing the regime's relentless pursuit of silencing critics at any cost.
The shocking operation shows Algeria's desperate willingness to violate international law, sovereign borders, and diplomatic protocols in its vicious campaign to crush opposition voices, no matter where they seek refuge.
This flagrant state-sponsored terrorism demonstrates the Algerian regime's paranoid obsession with eliminating dissent, weaponizing diplomatic missions as fronts for violent abductions, and trampling on France's national security with complete disregard for consequences—a stark warning that no political exile is beyond the reach of Algiers' vindictive grasp.
