Man freed after 10-day captivity in Caldes de Montbui

Spain’s National Police, the country’s national law-enforcement force, rescued a man allegedly held captive for 10 days in the province of Barcelona, according to COPE’s report of 27 August 2026.

The broadcaster said officers stopped a vehicle in Caldes de Montbui, a municipality north of Barcelona, while the alleged captor was transporting the victim. The man was rescued alive and one person was arrested, COPE reported.

For residents in Caldes de Montbui and the wider Barcelona area, the case concerns an alleged violent organised-crime incident in which police said the suspect was carrying a firearm. The investigation remains open.

Alleged detention followed cocaine theft

COPE said the case began after the theft of a 500kg cocaine consignment, which police sources cited by the broadcaster valued at about €30 million.

According to the report, several intermediaries had been involved in arranging the road transport. Four people allegedly dressed as Civil Guard officers intercepted the lorry about five kilometres after it set off in the Barcelona area, before the shipment could leave Catalonia.

The Civil Guard is Spain’s national gendarmerie force. COPE did not identify the people who allegedly posed as its officers.

“Everything seems to indicate that, perhaps, what he wanted was to take the kidnapped person’s life.”

COPE attributed that assessment to a police source discussing the arrest. It said the victim had been beaten during the alleged 10-day captivity and was pressured to reveal the location of the missing driver and cocaine.