Police in Colombia and Spain coordinated the rescue of a Spanish citizen Friday who was abducted while traveling in Cali on business.
A team of Colombia’s anti-kidnapping police found the Spanish man in the company of a woman near the hotel where he had been staying.
Although he was taken hostage in Colombia, the kidnappers were part of an organization that coordinated the abduction from Spain.
According to Colombian newspaper El Espectador, after disappearing from his Cali hotel room under “mysterious circumstances,” the Spaniard telephoned his brother in Madrid, Spain explaining that he was being held ransom by Colombian citizens.
It was at that time that one of the kidnappers interrupted the conversation and demanded 2 million euros ($2.7 million) in a threatening tone.
That same day, another man associated with the kidnappers approached the victim’s brother near his home in Spain and told him, “You already know about your brother. You have to pay and not go to the police.”
Later members of the kidnapping group in Spain contacted their counterparts in Colombia, and lowered the ransom to 500,000 euros ($670,000), but demanded an immediate deposit of 25,0000 euros ($33,5000).
Specialized agents were able to identify and capture the co-conspirators of the kidnappers in Spain, but were unsuccessful in apprehending the ones in Colombia due to the “enormous security measures” taken by the captors.
Spanish police arrested four people responsible for handling the ransom in Spain while Colombian authorities arrested the woman who was with the kidnapped victim in the Cali hotel.