Who is Florence Cassez – the true story behind the Netflix documentary

Netflix’s latest true crime series, released last week (August 25), examines one of Mexico’s most famous cases. Entitled A Kidnapping Scandal: The Florence Cassez Affair, it examines the case of French national Florence Cassez, who was convicted of helping her boyfriend run an infamous kidnapping ring.

In 2008, Cassez was sentenced to 96 years in prison, but the sentence was later reduced to 60 years. She denied the charges against her and has continued to maintain her innocence since her arrest in 2005.

The case divided people around the world. In France, many viewed Cassez as the victim of a corrupt Mexican justice system after the investigation saw a number of irregularities and a shocking staged arrest.

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Meanwhile, Mexican people condemned Cassez. The country has been plagued by thousands of kidnapping cases every year.

Florence Cassez is a French woman who was was accused of belonging to Mexican kidnapping ring Los Zodíacos, who had terrorised the Mexican population for years. Florence travelled to Mexico in 2003 when she was 31 to visit her brother and sister in law and it was during this trip that she was introduced to Israel Vallarta by her brother, and the pair began dating.

Their relationship was reported to be problematic, with the New York Times saying: “The pair began a difficult relationship that alienated her friends, who sensed that he was in trouble.” They briefly split, but in 2005 Florence made the permanent move to Mexico to live with Vallarta at his ranch.

On December 8, 2005, she and her boyfriend were arrested by police while driving along the highway. The couple were held by police, but in an extraordinary twist in the case they