Police arrest suspect for kidnapping, extortion

Police in Thessaloniki have arrested a 42-year-old Bulgarian national for allegedly kidnapping and holding to ransom two men – an Iraqi and a Syrian – and have issued warrants for two suspected accomplices.

Investigators were acting on a complaint from an Iraqi man who said that his 32-year-old brother had been kidnapped and identified the Bulgarian suspect as the culprit.

The 42-year-old was arrested after police tracked him to an apartment in the Ambelokipi district, where officers found the missing 32-year-old Iraqi national, as well as another man, aged 26 and identified as a Syrian, being held against their will in a locked room. Both men confirmed that they were being held to ransom of 1,300 euros each.