DAMASCUS: Syria’s Internal Security Forces have arrested eight members of an organized kidnapping gang operating in the Damascus countryside, accused of abducting businesspeople, traders, and owners of commercial and industrial enterprises before extorting their families for ransom.
The arrests followed multiple complaints from victims’ families and an intensive security operation, the Internal Security Forces said on Friday.
Authorities seized a cache of weapons from the suspects, including a PKC machine gun, assault rifles, pistols, hand grenades, and various types of ammunition. Several vehicles purchased with ransom proceeds were also confiscated.
During questioning, the suspects confessed to carrying out four kidnappings in cooperation with accomplices who remain at large. The victims included owners of commercial and industrial companies, according to the statement.
The suspects admitted to receiving more than $135,000 in ransom payments and said they had recently demanded $100,000 from the family of another victim in exchange for his release.
Legal proceedings have been initiated against those arrested, the Internal Security Forces said, while operations continue to track down the remaining suspects before all those involved are referred to the competent judicial authorities.
