Kylian Mbappé was reportedly among 26 high-profile individuals identified as potential kidnapping targets in an investigation into an alleged criminal network operating in France, according to a report published Wednesday by French newspaper Le Parisien.
The Real Madrid forward and France captain was reportedly listed alongside wealthy business figures, jewelers, corporate executives and personalities from the French rap scene, as investigators examined a series of alleged robberies, home invasions and kidnapping plots connected to the group.
The investigation centers on an 18-year-old suspect identified as Clément L., who is also known by the Snapchat alias “Lester Z.” and was charged in Nanterre on August 21 with organized gang robbery among other alleged offenses, according to the information reported by Le Parisien and cited by OneFootball.
Investigators reportedly discovered the list of potential targets after seizing mobile phones from the suspect’s prison cell, where he was being held at Villepinte prison in connection with previous offenses and remained in pretrial detention during the investigation.
According to the report, authorities believe the suspect may have continued coordinating criminal activity from custody, with the alleged network using Snapchat and other communications to maintain contact with people outside the prison and organize planned operations.
The investigation is examining alleged criminal activity that reportedly took place or was being prepared between April 11 and August 19 in several French communities, including Neuilly-sur-Seine, Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt and Santenay, although authorities are still working to establish how far each suspected operation progressed.
Mbappé’s inclusion on the alleged target list has drawn particular attention because of his status as one of football’s most prominent global stars, although the available reporting does not establish that an attempt to abduct him was actually carried out or that the suspected group reached the stage of physically targeting him.
The case remains under investigation as authorities seek to determine the precise roles played by each suspect and establish which alleged criminal plans were completed, which were abandoned and which remained at the planning stage.
The alleged ringleader remains in solitary confinement and pretrial detention, while an alleged accomplice was released under judicial supervision and was challenging that decision before the Versailles investigating chamber on Wednesday, according to the report.
The investigation now faces the task of determining the extent of the alleged network, the seriousness of each planned operation and whether any of the listed targets were subjected to actual surveillance or other preparatory actions before authorities intervened.