Landeskriminalamt NRW and Düsseldorf public prosecutor's office announce:
In the early hours of this Thursday (July 23, 2020), officers from the State Criminal Police Office of North Rhine-Westphalia (LKA NRW) and the Düsseldorf and Wuppertal police began searching eleven homes and companies in Wuppertal, Solingen, Essen, Bielefeld and Düsseldorf. Four men aged between 24 and 57, who were the subject of arrest warrants on suspicion of extortionate kidnapping, dangerous bodily harm and fraud, were arrested.
Violent kidnapping of a Dutch car dealer triggers the investigation
The man was taken in by an offer from the accused to buy a supposedly high-quality car. Instead of being able to take delivery of the car as planned, the dealer was cheated out of his down payment. He was then forcibly abducted to Solingen in order to extort further money from him. All of the suspects belong to a family clan of Turkish-Arab origin. As it could not be ruled out that the men had firearms, the arrests were made by special units and officers from a riot police evidence recovery and arrest unit (BFE).
The investigation, which is being conducted primarily by the NRW task force, is ongoing. Further results are not expected before next week.