Passer-by finds EUR 100,000 ransom

27 June 2006

AMSTERDAM — Police believe that the EUR 100,000 in cash found in bushes by the side of the road last May was ransom money.

The money was left by the roadside in the southern city of Breda on 24 May by a kidnap victim. Several masked men took him from his business in the town of Oosterhout earlier in the day. He was released later with the instruction to leave the money on the Sint Annadreef in the Ulvenhout district, newspaper ‘De Telegraaf’ reported.

A passer-by found the money and went to the police two days later. The victim had already gone to the police to report the extortion.

Over 100 police officers took part in eleven raids in the Netherlands and Belgium on Monday as part of the investigation. One suspect was arrested during one of the first raids and two other men, 27 and 41, were detained by midday when an arrest team stopped their car.

A 41-year-old suspect attempted to flee from police in the town of Alphen but another arrest team stopped his car. Meanwhile, police in Belgium arrested a 26-year-old man in Hoogstraten.

Subject: Dutch news