Two individuals were arrested this week in Marbella in connection with what authorities describe as Jamal’s abduction. The Dutch national, who is of Moroccan heritage, remains missing, and this unfolding case continues to draw serious attention from investigators and the public alike. The arrests, reported by El Confidencial and corroborated by police sources, come more than two years after the incident and well after the family had been left with little information about the victim’s fate. As the search stretches on, the victim’s family has grown increasingly anxious, and in late January they issued a substantial reward of 100,000 euros for information that could reveal the circumstances surrounding Jamal’s disappearance or locate him. The operation remains active as authorities pursue fresh leads.
The abduction is said to have occurred around 22:00 on August 22, 2020, when Jamal and his wife, along with their five children, were visiting Marbella. The family was returning from dinner when two vehicles blocked their path near the crossroads of Avenida del Prado and Calle París. A large group of armed men, concealing themselves as police, forcibly removed Jamal from the vehicle and led him away in front of his spouse, leaving the family in a state of shock and confusion.
Since that night there has been no ransom demand or any direct message clarifying the motive behind the kidnapping. Some investigators now lean toward the possibility of a fatal outcome, a conclusion drawn from patterns in similar cases and the lack of a traceable story from the moment of the abduction. A report notes that Dutch authorities had previously associated Jamal with drug trafficking within the Netherlands, pointing to gaps in his documented background as a businessman who traded luxury watches in Dubai. Peers in the same sector dispute this portrayal, arguing that such allegations do not align with what is known about his professional life and conduct.
In the years that followed, the National Police intensified efforts along established investigative avenues and reviewed intercepted communications relevant to the broader context of drug trafficking activity. Transcripts obtained by authorities, and reviewed in detail, include recordings from August 9 of the same year, obtained in a vehicle used in the Marbella area. In those conversations, several men discussed a target described as a Moroccan individual from the Netherlands who could not be named but whose appearance matched Jamal’s. The transcripts refer to a watch similar to the one Jamal typically wore, a white Richard Mille, and to specific models of luxury cars. The dialogue also mentions a Mercedes G class and references a distinctive yellow car upholstery, highlighting how such details could help identify the victim.
Although the search did not yield immediate results, authorities continued to pursue the case. Wiretaps recorded the day after the kidnapping show a second vehicle involved in the surveillance in Nueva Andalucía, with a man entering the scene to relay information about Jamal’s disappearance. The interlocutor named his associate and described connections with a group the speaker characterized as French, noting that the suspects drove two white cars and possessed a history of violence. The driver of the vehicle attempted to downplay the information, even as the descriptions matched earlier observations. The caller urged the driver to consult with the French associates for further clarity before ending the discussion. In the days that followed, law enforcement executed a search at a location tied to the group to gather more evidence related to the events of the prior day, but nothing decisive was uncovered at that time. The ongoing investigation continues to piece together the possible sequence of events and the identities of those involved, with authorities signaling their commitment to pursuing every credible lead until clarity emerges.