Philippine police rescue kidnapped Chinese student

Philippine police rescue kidnapped Chinese student

MANILA (AP) — Philippine police have safely returned a Chinese student who was kidnapped by a Chinese-run gang. The incident killed his driver and severed the student's finger in an attempt to force his parents to pay a large ransom, authorities reported Wednesday.

The kidnapping

Interior Minister Jonvic Remulla said the parents rejected the ransom demand. The kidnappers, who included former Filipino police officers and soldiers, abandoned the 14-year-old student in the middle of a busy street in Metro Manila on Tuesday evening as police approached their vehicle.

brutality of the act

The kidnapping of the student on February 20, after visiting a British school in Manila, alarmed the public because of its audacity and brutality. Remulla told reporters that the student's family and the kidnappers' Chinese leader were allegedly former operators of lucrative online gambling operations that thrived under President Rodrigo Duterte but were shut down by his successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last year.

Online gambling and crime

These online gambling operations, which operated in the Philippines, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries, had a large number of customers in China, where gambling is banned. "We know that this crime involves a Chinese against a Chinese," Remulla said, adding that the student's family and the kidnappers communicated in Chinese via the WeChat app.

threats and violence

After the closure of illegal gambling operations in the Philippines, some criminals turned to other crimes, including kidnapping, Remulla said. Authorities reported that online cryptocurrency sites, as well as romance and investment scams, remained a threat.

Ransom demand

To increase pressure on the student's family, the kidnappers demanded a ransom of $20 million, which was later reduced to $1 million. They cut off the tip of the little finger of the victim's right hand and sent a video of this gruesome act to the parents, Remulla said.

Investigations and arrests

The student's driver was killed and later found in an abandoned vehicle where crucial evidence, including cell phone numbers, was discovered. The suspects apparently tried to get out of the vehicle in a hurry. Remulla and police officials said the kidnappers have been identified and are now being hunted.