Criminal gangs are using kidnap and torture to prey upon African immigrants in the UK.
Organised gangsters are demanding up to £20,000 from some immigrants to release relatives they have taken hostage in the immigrant’s country of origin, according to the European crime intelligence agency Europol.
Its director said that Europol “has issued a warning to all police forces in Europe that this form of international extortion may also be happening in their areas”.
“Europol is ready for coordinated action with Interpol to deal with the problem in Europe and the Sinai region.”
Europol said that data 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 the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt.
It said it knows of cases where family members and friends have paid between €4400 (£3623) to €25,700 (£21,161) to free hostages. These include immigrants in Britain.
These cases rarely get prosecuted as victims are often too frightened to involve the police.
Amnesty International said that it has received “numerous reports” of refugees and asylum seekers being held by heavily armed men and tortured in the Sinai Peninsula in order to extract ransom payments.
Amnesty believes there is an extensive network of criminal groups operating through Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.
The networks include agents that collect the ransom money in countries including Israel, Saudi Arabia, the US, and throughout Europe”.
