New MO: Kidnap through txt

For an investment of P1, you can receive a ransom that could run to millions.

The relative success of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) in pursuing kidnap-for-ransom syndicates has forced these groups, and their copycats, to simply demand ransom money first from their would-be victims through text messaging, the Citizens Action Against Crime (CAAC) and the Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order (MRPO) warned yesterday.

The CAAC and MRPO said they recently received seven complaints about kidnap threats through text messages from would-be victims in Metro Manila and Laguna.

The group warned that paying off these syndicates will encourage them to come back for more. They urged the public to report any threats or harassment immediately to the nearest police precinct or call Hotline "117" for advice.

The CAAC and MRPO cited the case of Jose Mari Aguidan, who was arrested by NAKTAF agents in an entrapment operation as he was about to pick up the P5 million ransom he and his group demanded from a Chinese-Filipino trader — the would-be victim — at the Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas, Pasig City.

NAKTAF head Angelo Reyes said the businessman initially received a text message from the kidnappers informing him of their plan to abduct him.

To avoid being abducted, the trader was instructed by the kidnappers to simply pay P5 million, which they said was the amount they would demand from his family.

After a series of negotiations through text messages, it was agreed upon that the "ransom" would be paid by the trader at the mall.

But unknown to the suspects, the trader sought the help of NAKTAF, which set up an entrapment operation that led to the arrest of Aguidan.

"Ransom before kidnap," however, is not a new phenomenon. According to previous reports, some kidnap-for-ransom syndicates simply telephone the potential victims, read back to them their prepared schedule for the day and the routes and vehicles they would be taking, and give the terrified targets a bank account number where a "preventive" ransom would have to be deposited.