Six people have been arrested over their alleged involvement in kidnapping a Chinese teenager and a subsequent attempt to extort money from him.
Police arrested the six men, who are all from China, after the 19-year-old victim reached out to a friend via Chinese messaging app WeChat.
Detectives have arrested six people as part of their investigation into an incident in which a Chinese national was kidnapped and attempts were made to extort money from him.Credit: Paul Rovere
The man used WeChat to tell the friend that a number of armed men were holding him hostage in a Melbourne apartment. Police say the men demanded $200,000 from the teenager.
Police swooped on the CBD apartment in the early hours of August 17 and located the man “without incident”, they said.
Following the recovery of the victim, police searched residential properties in the Melbourne CBD and Docklands area and arrested three men.
A 23-year-old man and a 22-year-old man were charged with false imprisonment, attempted armed robbery, extortion, blackmail and assault charges. They faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday and were bailed to appear again on November 9. A 21-year-old man was released pending further enquiries.
Detectives arrested three more men on Monday.
A 23-year-old, 25-year-old and 27-year-old were arrested in Docklands and subsequently interviewed. The trio, who are all from China, have been released pending further inquiries and the investigation remains ongoing.
The arrests follow a…
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