Staff Reporter
A SWEDISH tourist has been rescued by the police after a terrifying kidnap and abduction that lasted for 23 days. His captors were demanding a €500,000 ransom in cryptocurrency from his family in exchange for his release.
The ordeal began last month when the Swedish man arrived at Malaga airport from Turkey with a friend to visit Spain. On arrival he was collected by a third person who had supposedly been sent by his friend to collect him and take him to his hotel.
It was at that point that he went missing, prompting his family to file a police report several days later when they were contacted by the alleged kidnappers.
The Policia Nacional explained in a statement that the man was taken from room to room every five days in a series of apartments, and was kept in handcuffs as well as having a tracking device attached to one of his shoes.
Read more: Kidnapped at gunpoint in Spain’s Marbella
The police managed to track down the first apartment where the man had been held, but by that point he had been moved to another location. The search was made more difficult by the fact that the alleged kidnappers were using fake identification to rent vehicles as well as the apartments.
A relative of the victim who was negotiating with the kidnappers, and who lives in Turkey, then came to Malaga with a view to paying the ransom.
Following five days of intense negotiations, and under strict instructions from the Policia Nacional, a meeting was arranged between the relative and the gang to make the payment in a restaurant.
The gang was taking no chances, and one member was sweeping the area looking for police presence before the meeting.
Eventually, another of the captors arrived at the restaurant accompanied by the victim. At this point, the police swooped on the premises and freed the Swedish tourist, as well as arresting two of the suspects, who are of Syrian and Lebanese origin.
The suspects were placed in police custody and will face charges of kidnap, bodily harm and belonging to a criminal organisation, among others.
The police, however, believe that the men were not acting alone and are looking for more suspects.
