Police in southern Vietnam’s Binh Duong have rescued a Chinese man and arrested another Chinese national who, aided by three Vietnamese accomplices, kidnapped his countryman for a ransom of over US$185,000.

The victim, whose name has yet to be announced, is a director of an interior furniture company in Tan Binh Industrial Park in the province’s Bac Tan Uyen District, the provincial police reported on Friday.

The three detainees include Zhao Xin, a 38-year-old Chinese national – the instigator of the kidnap – and his two Vietnamese accomplices, namely Duong Thuy Ai, 29, and Nguyen Khanh Vi, 19, hailing from An Giang and Kien Giang Provinces in the Mekong Delta region, respectively.

All these suspects are under investigation on charges of kidnapping for ransom, said local police.

According to the initial probe, Zhao entered Vietnam in July and temporarily resided in the province’s Thu Dau Mot City with Ai, his girlfriend.

Zhao later got acquainted with Vi and 34-year-old Tran Phan Vu Thanh, another suspect who is being hunted by police.

Zhao Xin (L), Duong Thuy Ai (M) and Nguyen Khanh Vi are seen in police custody in Binh Duong Province, southern Vietnam. Photo: Binh Duong Province Police

With an aim to illegally earn money for his personal needs, the Chinese man discussed with Ai, Vi and Thanh a scheme to kidnap a foreigner for ransom.

After days of searching for a prey, the kidnapping gang targeted the aforementioned Chinese director and set out a plan to keep a watch on his daily activities and abduct him.

At around 0:00 am on Thursday this week, after finding the director driving a car alone on a street, the gang stopped his vehicle and used weapons to threaten and abduct him.

They then took the victim to a workshop, rented by Ai in Thu Dau Mot City for goods storage, and detained him under guard there. 

The gang’s members often beat the man and contacted his family members to demand a ransom of VND4.5 billion ($185,500).

During their communication with the victim’s family, the gang often changed the address where they expected to receive the ransom.

Upon receiving a report from the victim’s relatives, the provincial police set out a plan to rescue him and arrest the suspects. 

After coordinating with other professional units to locate the site where the gang was keeping the victim, local police deployed a team to raid it, catching the gang receiving the said ransom from the victim’s family.

The team detained the three kidnappers and seized the ransom amount on the scene, along with three cars and some other exhibits. 

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