AN international syndicate, believed to be headed by expatriate Sri Lankan Tamils, are targeting their countrymen in Malaysia to make a fast buck.

Making use of local thugs, the syndicate abducts their targets — mostly in the Klang Valley — and demand ransom from family members either in Sri Lanka or in other countries.

It is believed the syndicate’s ring leaders — who live in Paris, France — would be the ones contacting the
victim’s family members to collect the ransom money.

This apparently lucrative “venture” came to a halt on Saturday when a police team from the Kuala Lumpur Serious Crimes Branch raided a house in Setapak and arrested six local men.

Police also rescued two Sri Lankan men in their 20s, who were believed to have been confined at the house
since they were kidnapped several days before the police raid.

Both men told police that they had been tortured by their kidnappers. It has not been determined whether
their family members have been contacted or if ransoms had been paid.

The break in the case came following the release of a 16-year-old on Friday night — after his father, who is living in France, paid a RM25,000  ransom to the syndicate ring leaders in Paris.

Federal CID chief Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin said the Sri Lankan police contacted Bukit Aman after the boy’s
father reported to them about his son’s kidnapping and the ransom demand. It is believed that the boy was
kidnapped on Oct 26.

Following the arrest of the six men, Bakri said police counterparts in Paris had arrested four Sri Lankan men
in connection with the case.

The four, in their 30s, are believed to be directly connected with the syndicate.  He said police have not ruled out further arrests both locally or overseas. Bakri said the victims had all entered Malaysia with valid documents.

Malay Mail was informed that the police have yet to determine how many victims the syndicate had kidnapped.

The suspects arrested in Setapak have been remanded to facilitate investigations. When asked about the
possibility that the syndicate was set-up by members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (Tamil Tigers),
the main rebel organisation which fought the Sri Lankan government for almost 25 years, Bakri said they were
not looking into that possibility.

The Tamil Tigers — branded as a terrorist organisation by 32 countries — was alleged to have used various means to finance its war effort, from drug smuggling to extortion. Thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils had fled the island following the start of the civil war in 1983 and the exodus continues even though the Colombo government declared victory on May 16  this year.

More than 200,000 people on both sides were believed to have been killed or injured in the conflict, while over
a million are believed to be displaced.