http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/investigations/10674258/Criminal-gangs-are-targeting-African-immigrants-for-extortion-British-police-warned.html
Criminal gangs are targeting African immigrants for extortion, British
police warnedGangs are demanding up to £20,000 from European 'contacts' of
African immigrants for the release of hostages
By Claire Newell, and Holly Watt
7:00AM GMT 04 Mar 2014
British police have been warned that Africans in the UK are being targeted
for extortion by foreign gangs, the Telegraph can disclose.
Europol, the European crime intelligence agency, has said that families are
being forced to pay tens of thousands of pounds to free relatives who have
been kidnapped.
Officials warned that criminal gangs are demanding £20,000 from European
"contacts" of African immigrants for the hostage to be released.
Rob Wainwright, the Director of Europol, said that the organisation "has
issued a warning to all police forces in Europe that this form of
international extortion may also be happening in their areas".
"In response to any increase in cases reported to national competent
authorities in Europe, the centralised analysis of this data at Europol
would enable the detection of cross-border links between different cash
handlers.
"Europol is ready for coordinated action with Interpol to deal with the
problem in Europe and the Sinai region."
The Telegraph has spoken to one man in Birmingham who paid more than
$35,000 (£20,917) for his sister to be released.
The man, who works as a taxi driver in Birmingham, asked for his surname to
be withheld because he is concerned that the gangs may target other family
members in his home country.
"I paid the money to save her life", said Dawit. "I sold all that I could
and borrowed from family and friends.
"The main thing is that she is safe and alive, but because she was
tortured. She begged me to save her life. It was the worst thing in the
world".
He said that he knew another Eritrean man from Birmingham who was also
forced to pay thousands of pounds to free a relative who had been
kidnapped.
Europol said that data provided by national law enforcement authorities
showed that "individuals of Eritrean origin living in Sweden and at least
two other European countries" have received demands for money to free
relatives who had been kidnapped and tortured in Sinai.
They said that "the extortion operations were run by organised crime groups
(OCGs) of Bedouin origin exploiting irregular migrants who had been
kidnapped in Eritrea and Sudan by OCGs of Rashaida origin.
Europol said that they are aware of cases where family members and friends
have paid between 4400 euros (£3623) to 25,700 euros (£21,161) to free
hostages.
Soren Pederson, from Europol said, "In most cases, the extortion processes
involved multiple negotiation steps and sequential increases in the ransom
amount.
"Payments were made to multiple cash handlers used by organised criminal
groups in locations inside and outside of Europe."
Few cases have been prosecuted, because victims are often too scared to
tell the police, but last year, a Stockholm court has charged two Swedish
nationals with extortion in connection with the kidnappings of Eritrean
asylum seekers.
The men allegedly demanded $33,000 (£19,721) from families living in Sweden
for the safe return of their relatives.
Amnesty International said that it has received "numerous reports" of
refugees and asylum seekers being held captive in the Sinai Peninsula of
Egypt.
A report produced by the organisation last year said that hostages held in
Sinai are "subjected to brutal violence and inhuman treatment during
attempts to extract ransom payments from their families".
Amnesty said that the information they had "indicates that there is an
extensive network of criminal groups which include smugglers and
traffickers operating through Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.
"They are reportedly heavily-armed...The networks include agents that collect
the ransom money in countries including Israel, Saudi Arabia, the US, and
throughout Europe".
When Dawit's sister was kidnapped as she walked to work in Eritrea last
July, he reported the incident to police in the UK, but was told they were
unable to help because she was not a British citizen.
The gang holding his sister called their mother and demanded $10,000
(£5975) was paid to them within two days.
If they did not receive the payment, the gang said she would be taken to
Sinai and it would cost $35,000 (£20,917) for her release.
"The men knew we could not find $10,000 in one of two days", said Dawit.
"We were very scared and we wanted my sister to be able to return to her
children, but we could not find the money that quickly.
"So then men took my sister to Sinai, where they made her call my family.
They beat her and she was crying on the phone. She begged us to save her
life.
"I sold two cars I had in Sudan and luckily I have lots of good friends, so
we paid the money, but it took a long time for her to be release.
"The main thing is that she is safe and alive, but she has lost her hearing
in one hear because of the beatings and also has a bad infection."
Dawit's sister is now in Ethiopia and the family are trying to raise enough
money to get her back to her children in Eritrea.
Received on Tue Mar 04 2014 - 13:53:28 EST