A 42 year old man was freed today after being kidnapped from his car on his way to work in Huyton after the longest hostage rescue operation run by the Metropolitan Police.
The unnamed hostage, who was being held at an address in Liverpool, was freed by security forces on Wednesday night. Local residents in Huyton said that a man in his thirties lived at the property where the hostage was being held and they also said that they had no knowledge of what was going on. It is reported that he was abducted by gangs on his way to work from his car at 5 a.m.
Over 200 police officers, some with weapons, were involved in the operation and investigation. After the man was freed, police raided addresses in Knowsley on Merseyside, Denham in Buckinghamshire and Brentwood in Essex. During the raids, 11 men and 1 woman were arrested and 10kg of cocaine, bags of amphetamines, two guns and £200,000 were siezed.
Detective Chief Superintendent Sharon Kerr from the Met's special crime unit
said: "We have got a lot of intelligence and ripped the heart out of one of the most significant criminal networks in this country."
A Met spokesman also said: "It is believed the man was taken because of a dispute between criminal networks involved in drugs." The hostage is being treated in hospital for superficial injuries to his body and face. His condition is decribed as non-critical.
The Metropolitan Police had a very good record in kidnapping cases and it looks like this is still the case today.