A British model was drugged and kidnapped in Milan to be sold in an online auction, say Italian police.<\/p>\n
The woman, 20, had arrived in the city to take part in a photo shoot arranged through her agent, but was abducted and held captive for six days.<\/p>\n
Polish national Lukasz Herba, 30, who lives in the UK, has been arrested on kidnapping charges, police said.<\/p>\n
The Foreign Office said it was providing consular support to a British woman.<\/p>\n
The model, who has not been named, arrived in Milan on 10 July.<\/p>\n
She arrived at an apartment the following day for the shoot, where she was attacked by two men,\u00a0said police<\/a>.<\/p>\n Police said the woman was drugged, handcuffed and loaded into a bag and put into the boot of car which was driven to an isolated house in Borgial, northwest of Turin.<\/p>\n Italian prosecutor Paolo Storari said: “The victim was doped with ketamine – then she was locked in a bag and carried for hours in a car.<\/p>\n “Think what could would have happened if she suffered from asthma.”<\/p>\n The woman was kept handcuffed to a wooden chest of drawers in the bedroom for six days until she was released and taken to the British consulate in Milan, according to police.<\/p>\n Investigators said they discovered the kidnapper had organised several online auctions for the sale of abducted girls, which included a description and an opening price.<\/p>\n Police said it was unclear whether he had really abducted the victims or invented them for the auction.<\/p>\n The kidnapper used an encrypted account to ask the model’s agent for \u00a3230,000 ($300,000) to stop her from being sold in auction.<\/p>\n He claimed he was working on behalf of the “Black Death Group”, an organisation which operates in the deep web for illegal traffics, police said.<\/p>\n Investigations into the case are being carried out by authorities in Italy, Poland and the UK.<\/p>\n The kidnapper was captured by police as he was accompanying the model to the British Consulate in Milan,\u00a0according to the Telegraph.<\/a><\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"