The operation was staged after a 23-year-old Brazilian man and two Belgian tourists aged 20 and 21 were kidnapped in separate incidents by a gang of four assailants in an Audi A3 in Albufeira. According to newspaper Correio da Manhã the gang coerced the victims into the car before beating them and stealing their mobile phones and cash. The assailants were caught by PSP police in Portimão during the early hours of Saturday morning.