Three masked men broke into a house in Mont-de-Marsan around 3am during the night of October 21 to 22, tying up a couple in their sixties with adhesive tape and cable ties before demanding cryptocurrency. The attackers fled with a laptop and a phone. The amount of cryptocurrency involved has not been disclosed.
The husband, 63, was struck with an adjustable wrench behind the head. Investigators later found cable ties and the wrench at the scene. The couple managed to free themselves and alert police. Firefighters transported them to Mont-de-Marsan hospital for examinations.
The investigation has been assigned to the Bayonne judicial police. The couple's son, who works in cryptocurrency and lives at another address, has been placed under police protection as the attackers remain at large.
A pattern emerging in the Landes
This is the second attack of this type in the Landes in a little over two months. During the night of August 10 to 11, a couple from Rion-des-Landes was kidnapped over their bitcoin holdings. The husband was found naked and injured in Solférino, while the wife was located in a vehicle in another department. The gendarmerie blocked the road between Rion-des-Landes and Lesperon and arrested two suspects in connection with that case.
A separate incident in the Tarn saw a 22-year-old robbed at gunpoint at night; he managed to put his attackers to flight.
French authorities have also recently moved against tools used to identify crypto holders for targeting. Police shut down Reacher, a stolen-data search engine reportedly run by three teenagers, which investigators have linked to efforts to trace individuals believed to hold significant cryptocurrency assets.
The string of incidents underscores a growing physical security risk facing crypto holders in France, where attackers appear increasingly willing to target individuals directly at their homes rather than attempt purely digital theft. For holders whose wealth or occupation in the sector becomes known or traceable, the Landes cases illustrate how that exposure can translate into violent crime against them and their families.
