Drones, jammers, and GPS trackers used in hit on cryptocurrency tycoon

Suspected crypto kidnappers ordered WiFi jammers, drones, and tracking devices in an attempt to abduct a wealthy crypto tycoon.

Documents from the District Court in Florida have revealed that three suspected cryptocurrency kidnappers ordered different gadgets used to stalk and carry out a possible abduction.

Three people named in the court filing, Rashawn Noel, Mark-Simon Louma, and Jude Timothe, are suspected of stalking their victim.

High-tech criminals use drones to gain intel

Law enforcement learned that a drone had been circling the victim’s residence in Normandy Isles, Miami Beach, Florida.

The drone video was taken on October 31st, 2025, and appeared to be launched from the

Biarritz Drive area in Normandy Isles, Miami Beach.

Timothe was identified via Instagram as having access to drones and was seemingly recruited by Noel to perform surveillance on the victim.

Law enforcement interviewed the resident of the address where the drone had been circulating and discovered that the victim was “very successful in cryptocurrency.”

“I know, based on other investigations and my training and experience, that persons with large amounts of cryptocurrency are often robbery, kidnapping, or extortion targets,” writes special agent Ryan Dreibelbis from the FBI.

Fake Google Support behind the scheme

Prior to the drone attacks, the victim had been contacted consistently by scam callers claiming to be from Google support.

Cryptocurrency scammers will first try to remotely access the victim’s cryptocurrency via their cloud storage and email accounts to locate “seed phrases,” Dreibelbis claims.

Seed phrases are similar to passwords used to secure cryptocurrency accounts. Once a criminal locates these seed phrases, they can then take control of a victim’s cryptocurrency accounts.

However, if cryptocurrency scammers are unable to obtain these seed phrases electronically, they may employ actors to take these phrases by force.

This seems to be what special agent Dreibelbis is suggesting happened: scammers employed Noel, Louma, and Timothe to carry out a kidnapping to extort the victim and steal their cryptocurrency.

A shady group of cyber criminals in a shadowy warehouse. — Image by Cybernews

Criminals surveil their victim before abduction attempt

Noel is a known member of the 77th gang, and the organization has been previously involved in cybercrime schemes and violent crimes.

Noel’s vehicle was seen entering the victim's gated residence before the drone was seen circling around the victim’s residence.

The FBI claims that in their experience, criminals often surveil their victims multiple times before they carry out the home invasion or kidnapping.

Noel then seemed to recruit Louma, as evidenced by various meetings with Louma and calls to their cellphone.

Louma handed over phone numbers to law enforcement officers in May 2025.

The UPS package

Following the surveillance attempts, law enforcement learned that a UPS package had been shipped from China.

Officers intercepted the packages and found that they contained three “jammers,” a form of technology that blocks WiFi signals to security cameras, making the security cameras inoperable.

FBI officials then delivered the packages to the intended address, believed to be Noel’s, without communicating with any of the residents.

The two suspects then moved towards the victim’s home with the WiFi jammers that law enforcement officials were tracking.

Kentucky Fried Chaos: criminals thwarted by law enforcement

An unidentified individual associated with the suspected criminals was seen by law enforcement placing a GPS tracking device on the victim’s vehicle.

Noel and Louma later tracked the victim down and surveilled them physically.

The perpetrators, who were in a Jeep and a rented BMW, were seen in a KFC drive-through, where the suspected criminals were tailing the victim.

“Noel’s Jeep continually drove past the area and parked several times in view of the Victim’s vehicle for approximately an hour.”

Noel and his team were believed to be looking for the victim in the hopes that they would return to their residence, where the criminals could then carry out their plan.

Before Noel and Louma, who were driving the Jeep and the BMW, could act, law enforcement apprehended the pair.

Timothe was later arrested by law enforcement, where he initially denied any involvement.

However, later on, Timothe admitted to flying the drone over the victim’s residence.

The special agent on the case has said that there is probable cause to believe that these three “used the drones, the multiple vehicles, their cellphones, the electronic jammer devices shipped from China, and the GPS tracking device to place under surveillance the victim in an attempt to injury, harass, and intimidate…or (place) the victim in a reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury.”