Police search for more suspects after Gauteng kidnapping victim rescued
A suspect is behind bars after a 49-year-old Portuguese businessman was rescued in Snake Park, south of Johannesburg, where he was being held captive by his kidnappers.
According to police, the man may have been the victim of a syndicate targeting businessmen in the Johannesburg district - and demanding ransom payments for their release.
The businessman was allegedly kidnapped from his business premises in Florida, west of Johannesburg, last Monday and was found unharmed a week later.
A suspect was arrested in Turfontein on the same day of the rescue.
"The 39-year-old suspect is believed to belong to a syndicate that is responsible for at least four other kidnappings where businessmen were the target in the Johannesburg District,” said national police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe.
"The team is currently tracing suspects who were working together with the man.”
The man is the latest of 12 businessmen rescued by a multidisciplinary team in the last six months.
Six students were also kidnapped and rescued in the same period.
According to the latest third-quarter police statistics, kidnappings increased by 11% year-on-year to 4,577 cases during the period in question.
Mathe says the police's anti-kidnapping task team, which led the latest rescue, is making strides in addressing the spate of kidnappings.
"In cases where the businessmen and students had been rescued, no ransom payment was made as a direct result of the expertise and capabilities of SAPS detectives, the crime intelligence unit and collaboration with private security.
From January 2024 to date, 49 kidnappers who had demanded ransom payment from families of victims have been arrested in Gauteng, North West and the Free State."
Additionally, 21 vehicles used in the commission of these crimes have been confiscated, and eight firearms have also been seized.
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