The national security services had reacted with seriousness to a video footage broadcast on instant messaging applications showing a Sub-Saharan man tied up and assaulted with a plastic material on fire, National Police (DGSN) said in a statement.

The investigations carried out on this case made it possible to identify the victim as well as another individual who was also kidnapped by the suspects, the source added.

Four people, aged between 20 and 46, suspected of having perpetrated these criminal acts were arrested, according to the same source.

According to initial investigations, the four suspects kidnapped and sequestered the two victims as part of a settling of scores between two criminal networks following the failure, on August 5, of an illegal immigration operation to the Canary Islands, where the two victims had played the role of intermediaries to bring would-be illegal immigrants.

The six suspects, including the two victims, were placed on custody pending the end of investigations led under the supervision of the competent public prosecutor's office, the source pointed out.