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Does kidnap for ransom happen often?
I have never heard of it happening much in the US or anywhere else in the first world. The very rich might have a bodyguard (many don't, I'm guessing), but most people don't seem to be targets. However, is it that such things aren't publicized much by the media? Or maybe I ignore it when these things happen? Does it happen often in your neighborhood?
By the way, 10,000 pounds of cocaine is an absolutely huge amount!
By the way, 10,000 pounds of cocaine is an absolutely huge amount!
Dutch millionaire's daughter released
TOBY STERLING
Associated Press
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Kidnappers demanding a ransom of 660 pounds of cocaine released the daughter of a wealthy Dutch industrialist unharmed, police said Thursday. It was not clear whether any ransom was paid.
Claudia Melchers, 37, walked barefoot into a train station in the town of Arnhem Wednesday night, 48 hours after two armed men gained entry into her Amsterdam apartment, bound her, bundled her into a plastic crate and loaded her into a vehicle to make their escape.
"We don't know why she was released," said police Commissioner Willem Woelders.
He said as far as police know, no ransom was paid and the family didn't have any contact with the kidnappers.
Melchers' father, Hans Melchers, whose chemical company is based in Arnhem, is one of the richest men in the Netherlands, with a personal fortune estimated at $651 million.
Woelders said police did not know why the kidnappers demanded cocaine, or whether such a delivery could have been arranged on such short notice.
"That's a tough question for a policeman because it not my daily business. But that would be a tough job, even for a criminal organization. The quantity is very large and you would need to have the right contacts to do it quickly. I think it is unlikely."
The kidnapping came a month after customs authorities seized 10,000 pounds of cocaine in the Port of Rotterdam, in one of the largest drug busts by Dutch authorities. It was not clear if there was a connection with the kidnappers.
According to Claudia Melchers' account of the abduction, Woelders said, she was held in an empty room on the first floor of a house. She was given clothes and food and allowed to bathe. She told police she saw three men, two who appeared to be Latin Americans and one who was black.
She was disoriented after her release, and suffered minor abrasions on her wrists where she was bound but was otherwise unharmed, he said.
In the assault on Melchers' home in the Old South section of Amsterdam Monday, the gunmen bound and gagged a friend but left Melchers' two young children unharmed.
Police assigned a 60-person team to investigate the case, but had no idea where the woman was until she appeared at the Arnhem train station, 68 miles east of Amsterdam near the German border.
Melchers heard German and eastern Dutch dialects spoken on a radio playing in the distance, Woelders said, implying she was held in or near Germany. But the kidnappers spoke English and the ransom note was written in English.
The abduction of Melchers' daughter revived news stories in the Dutch media about his past.
Hans Melchers is owner of Melchemie Holland BV, which had supplied chemicals to Iraq in the 1980s and was once fined for a shipment of banned chemicals, which it called a "one-time mistake."
Melchers' ex-wife, Anna Maria Lievens, was found dead at the bottom of the stairs of her home in Malta in 1999, apparently after a fall. Dutch media reported Lievens had contacted Dutch financial authorities alleging her husband's company sold chemicals to Iraq, Syria and Libya.
Hans Melchers has not commented publicly on the case, but Dutch media said the family plans to release a written statement later Thursday.
Although kidnappings are rare in the Netherlands, they have happened often enough for Quote magazine to come under criticism for publishing its annual list of the country's wealthiest citizens. Melchers is number 36 on the list.
The most famous case was the 1983 kidnapping of beer tycoon Freddie Heineken, who was released from three weeks in captivity after the kidnappers were paid US$10 million. The mastermind of the kidnapping was caught in Paris several months later and served an 11-year prison sentence. He was shot dead on an Amsterdam street in a gangland-style killing in 2003.
TOBY STERLING
Associated Press
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Kidnappers demanding a ransom of 660 pounds of cocaine released the daughter of a wealthy Dutch industrialist unharmed, police said Thursday. It was not clear whether any ransom was paid.
Claudia Melchers, 37, walked barefoot into a train station in the town of Arnhem Wednesday night, 48 hours after two armed men gained entry into her Amsterdam apartment, bound her, bundled her into a plastic crate and loaded her into a vehicle to make their escape.
"We don't know why she was released," said police Commissioner Willem Woelders.
He said as far as police know, no ransom was paid and the family didn't have any contact with the kidnappers.
Melchers' father, Hans Melchers, whose chemical company is based in Arnhem, is one of the richest men in the Netherlands, with a personal fortune estimated at $651 million.
Woelders said police did not know why the kidnappers demanded cocaine, or whether such a delivery could have been arranged on such short notice.
"That's a tough question for a policeman because it not my daily business. But that would be a tough job, even for a criminal organization. The quantity is very large and you would need to have the right contacts to do it quickly. I think it is unlikely."
The kidnapping came a month after customs authorities seized 10,000 pounds of cocaine in the Port of Rotterdam, in one of the largest drug busts by Dutch authorities. It was not clear if there was a connection with the kidnappers.
According to Claudia Melchers' account of the abduction, Woelders said, she was held in an empty room on the first floor of a house. She was given clothes and food and allowed to bathe. She told police she saw three men, two who appeared to be Latin Americans and one who was black.
She was disoriented after her release, and suffered minor abrasions on her wrists where she was bound but was otherwise unharmed, he said.
In the assault on Melchers' home in the Old South section of Amsterdam Monday, the gunmen bound and gagged a friend but left Melchers' two young children unharmed.
Police assigned a 60-person team to investigate the case, but had no idea where the woman was until she appeared at the Arnhem train station, 68 miles east of Amsterdam near the German border.
Melchers heard German and eastern Dutch dialects spoken on a radio playing in the distance, Woelders said, implying she was held in or near Germany. But the kidnappers spoke English and the ransom note was written in English.
The abduction of Melchers' daughter revived news stories in the Dutch media about his past.
Hans Melchers is owner of Melchemie Holland BV, which had supplied chemicals to Iraq in the 1980s and was once fined for a shipment of banned chemicals, which it called a "one-time mistake."
Melchers' ex-wife, Anna Maria Lievens, was found dead at the bottom of the stairs of her home in Malta in 1999, apparently after a fall. Dutch media reported Lievens had contacted Dutch financial authorities alleging her husband's company sold chemicals to Iraq, Syria and Libya.
Hans Melchers has not commented publicly on the case, but Dutch media said the family plans to release a written statement later Thursday.
Although kidnappings are rare in the Netherlands, they have happened often enough for Quote magazine to come under criticism for publishing its annual list of the country's wealthiest citizens. Melchers is number 36 on the list.
The most famous case was the 1983 kidnapping of beer tycoon Freddie Heineken, who was released from three weeks in captivity after the kidnappers were paid US$10 million. The mastermind of the kidnapping was caught in Paris several months later and served an 11-year prison sentence. He was shot dead on an Amsterdam street in a gangland-style killing in 2003.
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