Nine people have been arrested in recent days in connection with the kidnapping at the end of November of a 27-year-old resident of The Hague, the Belgian Public Prosecutor's Office announced on Thursday. The arrests were made in Amsterdam, Diemen and Rotterdam.
Lakshan N. was kidnapped on November 26 and held hostage for a week and a half. The 27-year-old from The Hague managed to escape and reported the incident to the Belgian police on December 6.
Police did not say why he was kidnapped. But it is understood that the 27-year-old was kidnapped and held hostage due to a dispute over a stolen shipment of cocaine from the port of Antwerp on October 25.
The investigation into the case led to the arrest of a 37-year-old man and a 45-year-old man from Amsterdam. Three more were arrested on Monday: a 37-year-old from Amsterdam, a 51-year-old from Rotterdam and a 26-year-old from Albania with no permanent residence in the Netherlands.
These five suspects were brought before the investigating magistrate on Wednesday, who extended their detention for 14 days.
On Thursday, police arrested four more people: a 40-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman from Amsterdam, a 50-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman from Diemen. They will appear in court next week.
The latest arrests bring the total number of those arrested to nine. All suspects are currently under security measures, allowing contact only with their lawyers.