A British model was kidnapped in Milan by a 30-year-old Polish national. She was drugged and handcuffed during a week. The kidnapper intended to sell her on the dark web.
The girl is safe now. The man, Lukasz Herba, was arrested July 17 outside the British consulate in Milan while he was with the victim, according to Lorenzo Bucossi, the head of the Milan Police Mobile Command unit.
“The psychological pressure on the girl has been extreme,” said Serena Ferrari, a police officer in Milan. “She was very afraid.”
The model thought she would have a photo shoot session
The British model – her name wasn’t provided to protect her privacy – arrived in Milan on July 10. She had a photo shoot for an ad campaign the next day, booked through her agent. However, what might have been a great opportunity for her turned into a tragedy.
When she arrived at the apartment where the photo shoot would occur, she was attacked by two men. They put her in the back of a car, and the girl was taken to a cabin near to Lemie, a remote town in the Italian Alps, about 120 miles away from Milan. The house was rented by the suspect using false documents.
She was assaulted, drugged – with Ketamine, a drug used to sedate horses – and they kept her with handcuffs and attached to a wooden chest for a week. When she passed out, the two men took pictures of her naked.
The man was working for the “Black Death Group.”
According to the Italian police, the man wanted to put her into sell on the dark web for a pornographic page. The Italian police said that the suspect used encrypted accounts to ask the model’s agent for $300,000 to stop the auction. Herba said he was working on behalf of the “Black Death Group,” which is a criminal organization that traffics girls. Authorities are looking for all the people that might be related to the kidnapping.
It is not the first time they do this type of crime. The police said the man had organized other online auctions of young women. On the site of the auctions, the girls are described and their kidnappers set a starting price. They are referred to as “preys”.
It is not clear if everything that the suspect said is true. The police keep on investigating the case. They still don’t know why the man took his victim to the consulate. Apparently, the kidnappers released her when they found out she was the mother of a 2-year-old, and the rules of the auction page state that no mother could be sold there.
The British Foreign Office refused to give more information about the woman or her current condition. It is not known when she will be back to the United Kingdom or if she is already there. The British Foreign Office only said that they young model was receiving consular support in Milan.
Source: CNN