The police discovered that an 18-year-old man, detained for other crimes, had allegedly coordinated from prison a network targeting soccer players, singers, and businessmen
As he resumes activity with the Real Madridin the early weeks of the 2026/27 season, Kylian Mbappé has been indirectly involved in a police investigation that revealed he was among the targets of a criminal organization preparing a series of robberies and kidnappings. The alleged leader of the gang is an 18-year-old who, despite being detained for other crimes, reportedly continued to give orders from his cell.
This is Clément L., a Franco-Swiss national, who used the alias "Lester Z". On August 21, he was charged in Nanterre with "organized gang robbery" and was placed in preventive detention and under isolation, while another suspect was released under judicial supervision.
The investigation, revealed by Le Parisien, began to take shape from a series of incidents recorded between April and August in Neuilly-sur-Seine. One of the episodes occurred on April 25, when three people posing as delivery workers arrived at the home of a watchmaker with an empty box. The owner suspected it might be a trap and alerted the police, causing the fake employees to flee without completing the robbery.
Mbappé was one of the targets of the criminal gang
Days later, on May 4, the same victim was targeted again. This time, two armed men entered his store in Paris and took eleven luxury watches valued at around 150,000 euros. One of the suspects was arrested shortly after following an accident with a two-wheeled vehicle.
The investigations by the Banditry Suppression Brigade (BRB) allowed progress based on the fingerprints found on the box abandoned during the first robbery attempt. The investigators also traced a vehicle that may have been used in the attacks and subsequently identified Clément L.
What is striking about the case is that the young man was already incarcerated in Villepinte prison for other crimes and, according to the investigation, from there he coordinated the group's actions via Snapchat and mobile phones. Upon reviewing the seized devices, agents found a list with 26 addresses corresponding to individuals considered potential targets.
This list included singers, footballers, jewelers, and businessmen with significant wealth, as well as a Chinese wholesaler and a Turkish meat trader. Among them was Mbappé, identified by the organization as a person with substantial financial capacity.
The criminal gang wanted to wait for Mbappé to visit France in order to rob him
The intention, according to the investigation, was to take advantage of some visit from the forward to Paris to rob him, although authorities also considered the hypothesis that there were kidnapping plans against some of the individuals included in the list.
The alleged ringleader was arrested on August 19 as he was leaving a court in Bobigny, where he was to respond to charges related to pimping. During subsequent searches, plastic ties and five phones were found, which are still being analyzed by investigators for new evidence.
Clément L. already had a criminal record and had been convicted for offenses related to drugs and violent robberies. Even while imprisoned for serious crimes, he reportedly maintained his ability to organize new heists. Now, French authorities are trying to determine who else was part of the structure and how far the preparations against their potential victims advanced.
Meanwhile, he will remain detained and isolated while an investigation continues that has placed the French forward among the targets of a dangerous criminal gang.
