Four people who were being held hostage in the Durán canton were released on Tuesday morning, August 20, in the midst of a police operation.
The victims were drivers who were stopped in the middle of the tracks in the railway canton.
Armed men kidnapped them and took them to a house in the Divino Niño sector, where they were rescued after the capture of five suspects.
They kidnapped him, took $20,000 from his accounts, gave him a sleeping pill and left him on the Perimetral highway.
The victims included an elderly man, two young men and a Chinese woman.
It was learned that these are three cases of kidnapping. The foreign woman was driving alone in Durán when she was surprised by the armed criminals.
The two young men were also kidnapped when they were travelling in a car on a road in the canton and the criminals blocked their way. The elderly man was also in his car when the kidnappers took him away under threat.
The four of them met at the house, where they were later raided and rescued by the police.
Five people were arrested during the rescue of four kidnapped people in Durán. The captured people are believed to be members of the Chone Killer gang. Photo: Francisco Verni Peralta
They spent several hours in the custody of members of the Chone Killer organization, said Erick Cabrera, deputy chief of the Durán district.
The uniformed officer explained that first a house in the center of Durán was raided where Jesús S., alias GuicoThere, investigators detected two stolen cars used for kidnappings, weapons and license plates from other vehicles.
Cabrera said that both cars have been reported stolen and that one of them was allegedly used on August 9 to commit a double murder in a barber shop in the railway canton. There, David Santacruz and Josué Cervantes, 23 and 20, died.
In addition, a man reported that the same vehicle was blocked from passing through on the afternoon of Monday, August 19, when he was traveling on a road in Durán, and that armed men got out and pointed their guns at him.
The complainant managed to escape after crashing into the criminals’ car, and on Tuesday, when the vehicle in question arrived at the Police Community Surveillance Unit (UVC), it was confirmed that it had been damaged.
During the rescue, two stolen cars were found. One of them was allegedly used on August 9 to commit a double murder in a hair salon in Durán; there, David Santacruz and Josué Cervantes, aged 23 and 20, were killed. Photo: Francisco Verni Photo: Francisco Verni Peralta
Police reported that, following a raid on the Liga Cantonal circuit, four people involved in the kidnapping were arrested, including two teenagers. They were identified as Jipson B., 19 years old; Juan C., 25 years old; Douglas A., 16 years old, and Christopher Ch., 15 years old.
During the rescue, two shotguns, pistols, a revolver, ammunition and at least nine vehicle license plates were seized, which investigators presume were exchanged to commit crimes. (I)
