Florence Cassez Is Still Speaking About Her Case “So That It Won’t Happen Again”

Netflix’s latest true-crime docuseries, A Kidnapping Scandal: The Florence Cassez Affair, revisits the story of alleged kidnappers Florence Cassez and Israel Vallarta. Based on Jorge Volpi’s 2018 book, Una Novela Criminal, the series describes the legal saga as “one of the most notable and scandalous cases in Mexico’s history.” Using interviews and public records, director Gerardo Naranjo details the irregularities of this case and spotlights those involved in what became a diplomatic scandal between Mexico and France.

Cassez’s saga began in 2003 when the French citizen visited her brother and his wife in Mexico. While there, she met Israel Vallarta and began what The New York Times described as “a difficult relationship that alienated her friends, who sensed that he was in trouble.” After a brief breakup, Cassez eventually left France and moved to Vallarta’s ranch, located south of Mexico City, in 2005.

On December 8 of the same year, however, Cassez’s life changed dramatically when police arrested the couple on the side of a highway. Instead of taking them to the police station, authorities returned them to Vallarta’s ranch, where the Mexican FBI had invited TV reporters to witness a staged raid where they claimed to rescue three kidnapping victims. They arrested Cassez and Vallarta again, this time on camera, and accused them of running a prominent gang of kidnappers known as Los Zodiacos (The Zodiacs).

Months later, the Mexican government, which had touted the televised raid as proof they were winning the battle against organized crime, admitted to staging the rescue, according to The Guardian. During a February 2006 press conference, Mexico’s attorney general, Daniel Cabeza de Vaca, also blamed the journalists. “All we tried to do was serve you, the media,” he said. “That and show the public that there is an institution that is working for them, that has successes and that arrests people.”

Charged with crimes of kidnapping, organized crime, and illegal possession of firearms, Cassez — who had already spent more than two years behind bars awaiting trial — was found guilty in April 2008 and sentenced to 96 years in prison. In March 2009, however, her sentence was reduced to 60 years. Meanwhile, back in France, outrage ensued, and even now-former French presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande got involved, condemning Cassez’s detainment in Mexico.

More than seven years after her arrest, a Supreme Court panel in Mexico voted in January 2013 to free Cassez and allow her to return to France. Though the court did not address whether she was guilty or innocent of her alleged crimes, they concluded that the staged raid and televised arrest had violated her rights. The court’s decision ultimately sparked anger among Mexican citizens and kidnap victims’ groups who believed she’d received special treatment as a foreigner and made a mockery of their cause, the BBC reported at the time.

Once back in Paris, President Hollande, who had “taken up the baton” of her case, welcomed Cassez to the Elysee Palace, where she told reporters that her release was “a great victory for Mexicans,” per the BBC. In a prime-time interview on French TV, she maintained that she knew nothing about the “rescued” hostages at the ranch and that she, too, was a victim.

Vallarta, who is still in prison, admitted to being involved with the kidnapping ring but also confirmed that Cassez had nothing to do with his criminal activity. Since then, Cassez, who is 47 years old in 2022, has continued to profess her innocence and speak out about corruption in the Mexican legal system.

“Only they know why they’re doing it,” Cassez explained during an interview in A Kidnapping Scandal. “Maybe it’s because no one raises their voice to say that it’s not right. And that’s what I’m doing today, by answering them, by doing this. To stop it if possible, to speak out so that it won’t happen again. Nobody should go through this, nobody.”