Five masked men posing as police officers stop a vehicle on a motorway near Barcelona and violently force one of its occupants into another car. It happened in broad daylight, surrounded by traffic and in front of numerous motorists. The extraordinary incident has once again put the spotlight on the brazenness of some organised criminal networks operating in Spain.
Spain Expat Press Editorial Team
The images look like something from a mafia film. But they are real.
At around 7.30pm on Saturday, 19 September, five men dressed in black and wearing masks stopped a vehicle on the AP-7 between Montornès del Vallès and Vilanova del Vallès, in the province of Barcelona.
The men were wearing reflective vests bearing the word “Policía”, apparently designed to make motorists believe they were witnessing a genuine police operation.
What followed happened quickly. The bogus officers dragged one of the occupants from the vehicle and forced him into another car.
It all took place in front of other road users, some of whom filmed the extraordinary scene.
The victim was later found injured in Sant Llorenç Savall. His injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. The Mossos d’Esquadra are investigating the incident, with initial reports pointing to a possible settling of scores linked to drug trafficking.
🔴‼️ Las impactantes imágenes de un secuestro exprés en la AP-7 en Cataluña: falsos policías sacan a hombre de un coche y se lo llevan a la fuerza en Montornès del Vallès
Un grupo de cinco individuos armados y disfrazados de agentes de la Policía Nacional protagonizó este sábado… pic.twitter.com/7KMAcpPfnv
— EL ESPAÑOL (@elespanolcom) September 21, 2026
It is not just the abduction that is disturbing
Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of the case is the apparent lack of fear shown by the perpetrators.
They did not strike in the middle of the night on a deserted street. They did not wait until their target was alone, nor did they first lure him to an isolated location.
They acted on one of Spain’s major motorways.
In traffic.
In broad daylight.
In front of witnesses.
The operation was also carefully staged. By disguising themselves as police officers, the attackers gained a crucial advantage: motorists seeing men in police vests stopping a vehicle would naturally assume they were witnessing a police operation — not a kidnapping.
Organised crime in Spain is increasingly international
Spain has long occupied a strategically important position for international criminal networks.
Its proximity to North Africa, major commercial ports, connections with Latin America and position within the European Union make the country both an entry point and an important distribution hub for illegal drugs destined for European markets.
Spain’s own security authorities describe organised crime operating in the country as increasingly international and sophisticated.
The country’s 2025 National Strategy against Organised and Serious Crime highlights the multinational nature of many criminal organisations operating in Spain, their cross-border activities and their growing use of professional business and logistical structures.
In 2025 alone, Spanish security forces seized around 370 tonnes of cocaine, hashish, marijuana and heroin.
And where enormous quantities of drugs and money are involved, disputes over territory, debts, missing shipments and rival organisations can also bring violence.
Kidnappings, shootings and armed criminal groups
Barcelona is by no means the only area affected.
Only weeks ago, another suspected drug-related kidnapping emerged in Barcelona province. A lorry driver was allegedly held captive and brutally assaulted for more than a week following the disappearance of approximately half a tonne of cocaine.
Police eventually freed him near Caldes de Montbui.
The Costa del Sol has also faced the activities of international criminal networks for years.
In just one month in 2025, Spain’s Policía Nacional dismantled seven criminal organisations in the area, arrested 55 people and seized 37 firearms. Investigations included a kidnapping in Marbella and two shootings.
With its highly international population, transport links and geographical position, the Costa del Sol has long attracted criminal networks from different countries.
When violence no longer stays hidden
It would be wrong to conclude from a number of spectacular cases that Spain is somehow controlled by “mafias”.
Nor do individual incidents prove that kidnappings of this kind are increasing across the country.
But dismissing what is happening would be equally misleading.
Some criminal organisations operating in Spain have considerable financial resources, weapons, vehicles, international connections and increasingly sophisticated logistical structures.
And the AP-7 incident highlights something particularly unsettling: some criminals appear willing to carry out acts of extreme violence without even seeking the protection of darkness or isolation.
Five masked men.
Fake police uniforms.
A motorway outside Barcelona.
A man dragged from his vehicle and abducted in front of other motorists.
At 7.30 in the evening.
Not a scene from a Netflix series about the mafia. A scene from a Spanish motorway.
