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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, September 19, 2002

Philippine Police Probe Foreign Kidnap Gangs

A number of South Korean, Singapore, and Malaysian kidnap gangs are operating in the Philippines, preying exclusively on their compatriots, Manila's police chief said on Wednesday.


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A number of South Korean, Singapore, and Malaysian kidnap gangs are operating in the Philippines, preying exclusively on their compatriots, Manila's police chief said on Wednesday.

'Some of these foreigners have not been kidnapped by Filipino groups but kidnapped by their own people,' director Reynaldo Velasco told local television. He was discussing a fresh wave of abductions that has embarrassed President Gloria Arroyo's government.

'The foreign groups right now are only involved with their own nationals. So Koreans against Koreans, Singaporeans against Singaporeans and Malaysians against Malaysians. This is the trend we are observing especially in kidnapping cases where foreigners are involved.'

He said without giving details that police busted a South Korean gang in early September. Police are looking into its possible links with rogue employees of the immigration bureau, he added.

'We found out that the people who are supposed to kidnap the Korean arrived just the same day -- in the morning or probably in the afternoon -- and already in the evening, they tried to kidnap the target.'

President Arroyo has given the police one year to subdue 21 identified kidnap gangs, saying their activities have driven away foreign investors.

Among the most recent victims are two children of Filipino legislator Julio Ledesma. The children were freed unharmed on Tuesday. -

Source: Agencies






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