Philippine police kill 4 Chinese suspected of kidnapping

According to AP on May 31, in addition to killing four Chinese suspects, Philippine police also rescued a Chinese man believed to be kidnapped in a central Philippine city.

With the support of rapid response forces and intelligence agencies, Philippine police raided a shelter in Lapu Lapu City on the evening of May 30 after searching for the suspects. They received part of the ransom through the WeChat phone app.

General Rudolph Dimas, head of the Philippine National Police’s anti-kidnapping task force, told the AP: “Our people were opened up by the suspects and they had to respond.”

Philippine police exercise in Quezon City in 2019. Photo: Xinhua News Agency

The Chinese victim was identified as Lyu Xingou, from Fujian province, Southeast China. Philippine police said Mr. Xingou was abducted from his home by Chinese-speaking gunmen in the middle of last week while preparing to go to work in Lapu Lapu City.

The kidnappers then called the victim’s son in China, demanding a ransom. Mr. Xingou’s family complied with the request, paying part of the ransom through WeChat to help police track down the suspect.

Police recovered four pistols, a laptop computer, a mobile phone number and handcuffs from the dead suspects. They may have been involved in previous kidnappings of Chinese people working for online casinos in the Philippines.

At the beginning of May, newspaper The Philippine Star reported that Philippine police also arrested three Chinese nationals for kidnapping. Accordingly, the suspects Kevin Shi, Lu Shunguang and Cau Jun were arrested at a casino resort and hotel along Seaside Drive in Barangay Tambo.

Philippine national police chief, General Dionardo Carlos, said the suspects allegedly kidnapped and held Ding Fengfeng, 35, for allegedly failing to pay debts. They demanded ransom from the victim but were caught by the police.