Chloe Ayling: Brother of chief kidnap suspect arrested by police in West Midlands

Police investigating the alleged drugging and kidnapping of a British model in Milan have arrested the brother of the main suspect in the case.

London model Chloe Ayling claims she was kidnapped after attending what she believed to be a modelling shoot in the Italian city.

Police investigating her accusations have arrested Michal Konrad Herba, the brother of suspect Lukasz Pawel Herba.

The 36-year-old was detained on a European Arrest Warrant in Tividale, West Midlands, the National Crime Agency said.

He will appear at Westminster Maginstrates' Court on Thursday.

​Ms Ayling is believed to have been snatched by a masked group calling itself Black Death but Lukasz has denied knowingly taking part in any crime.

Italian police said she was drugged and transported in a bag to an isolated village near Turin, where she was held for six days as her captors tried to auction her online.

The 20-year-old said she was injected with ketamine after being lured to the shoot and was told she was going to be sold as a sex slave.

Ms Ayling, from Coulsdon, south London, was eventually taken to the British Consulate in Milan after the "horrific ordeal", but could not return home to London for almost three weeks.

​Lukasz Pawel Herba has said his involvement stems from wanting to raise money to treat his leukaemia and that he was hired by a group of Romanians to rent properties around Europe to store garments they were selling, according to reports.

He is also said to have told investigators he posed as a photographer and met Ms Ayling.

He said he was paid £500,000, found out the Romanians intended to kidnap her, and backed out of the plan.

he NCA said in a statement: "Officers from West Midlands Police and Emsou (East Midlands Special Operations Unit) this morning arrested the brother of Lukasz Pawel Herba in connection with the kidnapping of Chloe Ayling.

"Michal Konrad Herba, 36, was apprehended at an address in the Tividale area of Birmingham on a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Italian authorities. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 17 August.

"The National Crime Agency and Emsou are providing specialist support to the Italian Polizia di Stato as part of this ongoing investigation."