ISF warns of ransom-motivated kidnap schemes as it announces arrest of ‘gang members’

BEIRUT — The Internal Security Forces announced in a statement on Thursday that it had identified and arrested a number of “gang members” responsible for ransom-motivated kidnappings.

Here’s what we know:

    • The arrests are the result of the ISF’s investigation into “the kidnapping of Lebanese citizens, or people from other nationalities, and their transport outside Lebanese borders to demand a ransom.” The statement said that instances of kidnapping have “increased in recent times.”

    • The ISF described the kidnapping methodology used as entailing taking victims from “Chtaura to Zahle then Hermel where they are taken to Syria through illegal border crossings. A ransom is then demanded from their relatives in exchange for the victim’s release.”

    • The statement warned of posts on social media by kidnappers masquerading as “migration assistance agencies that promise to facilitate travel to a European country.”