Man seeks help to rescue kidnapped son in Myanmar

KOTA KINABALU (Oct 25): A father is pleading to the authorities to rescue his son who allegedly has been held by an international kidnapping syndicate in Myanmar.

Abdul Rahman Hamid, 60, is fearing for his 29-year-old son’s safety after the latter was held by kidnappers at an unknown location in Myanmar since October 18.
“My son was introduced to an gold investment in Thailand.

“He left Kota Kinabalu for Bangkok, Thailand on October 17 and stayed there for a night before meeting up with a friend, a woman from China, the following day.

“On October 18, my son and his female friend met up with a man who then drove them to Chiang Mai. During this whole journey, my son managed to contact his elder brother to inform him of his whereabouts.

“While on the way to Chiang Mai, they changed into another vehicle before proceeding to the border of Mae Sot, Myanmar. This was the last time that we had heard from my son,” said Abdul Rahman when met at the Malaysian Humanitarian International Organisation (MHO) office in Asia City on Friday.

Abdul Rahman said at that time, the family were not aware that his son had been kidnapped.

“My eldest son tried to contact him on his handphone but could not get through. Fearing for his younger brother’s safety, my eldest son then lodged a police report the same day.

“However, in the evening, my younger son contacted his elder brother telling him that he has been kidnapped and is now fearing for his life. He also told his brother that he is currently somewhere in Myanmar,” said Abdul Rahman, who hails from Labuan but currently resides in Kinarut.

Abdul Rahman added that the syndicate contacted his eldest son telling him that his brother had been detained and stated that it is difficult for the victim to get a job as he cannot speak Chinese or English.

“The syndicate said that if they want the victim to be released, then they have to pay a ransom of USD 30,000 in cryptocurrency.

“About four days later, on October 22, my younger son called his elder brother who again said that he is still being detained and is fearing for his life as he is constantly being threatened. The syndicate also demanded the ransom money to be paid immediately for his release.

“The last time I heard from my son was on Thursday (October 24) when he called me and pleaded with me to make the ransom payment immediately and if we failed to make the payment, the syndicate will sell his organs,” said Abdul Rahman, adding that the syndicate told them that once the ransom had been made, they would release his son.

MHO operational officer Captain (R) Jerry Jaimeh said most kidnappers would ask for ransom money before claiming to release their hostage.

“But there is no guarantee that once a payment has been made the victim will be released.

“Based on our research and investigation, the majority of these kidnappers, once they get the ransom money, will sell their hostages to another syndicate and this new syndicate will then demand for a ransom from the victim’s family. This process will continue on as kidnapping syndicates’ main goal is only for the money,” he told the media.

Jerry said based on MHO’s record, 2,000 people have become victims of an international kidnapping syndicate.

“So far, MHO has managed to rescue 300 of these victims and 50 of them are from Sabah.

“We therefore hope more people, especially Sabahans are aware of such syndicate. We also believe the syndicate targets victims from rural areas by offering lucrative job opportunities overseas.

“Please be careful of any get-rich-quick scheme being offered as there is always a scamming syndicate behind the scheme.

“Parents are also reminded to be aware of their children’s movement so they will not easily fall victims,” he said.