Yahoo News Chloe Ayling 'kidnapping': Brother of chief suspect arrested in Birmingham over alleged abduction of glamour model
The brother of the chief suspect in the alleged kidnapping of glamour model Chloe Ayling has been arrested in Birmingham.
Ms Ayling is believed to have been snatched by a group calling itself Black Death after being lured to a fake modelling shoot in Milan, Italy, last month.
Chief suspect Lukasz Pawel Herba has said he did not knowingly take part in any crime, and the National Crime Agency (NCA) said today it had arrested his brother, Michal Konrad Herba.
The 36-year-old was apprehended at an address in the Tividale area of Sandwell, West Midlands, on a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Italian authorities, the NCA said.
They 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.”
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Italian police believe Ms Ayling 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 a fake modelling shoot before being bundled into the boot of a car and 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.
Michal Konrad Herba is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
