The Government of Chile has confirmed the rescue of Lance Corporal Luis Toledo, kidnapped last Tuesday in Guayaquil (Ecuador), by a group demanding 100,000 dollars (about 95,000 euros) in exchange for his release. The soldier has suffered the amputation of two fingers.
The Ecuadorian police confirmed the release of the soldier, who had been kidnapped while on leave, and announced the arrest of one of the alleged kidnappers during the rescue operation.
«During this day the first corporal of the Chilean Navy, Luis Toledo, held against his will since Tuesday, November 29 last in Ecuador, was rescued alive, after an operation carried out in the city of Durán», informs the Chilean Government in a communiqué dated Saturday.
«The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the release of Corporal Toledo, who will soon be able to return to meet his family», according to the ministerial note.
The Ministry also «thanks the coordinated efforts made by the Chilean Investigative Police, the police forces of Ecuador and the Chilean Consulate in Guayaquil,» the note concludes.
The wife of the soldier had received telephone calls demanding US$100,000 in exchange for Toledo’s freedom, which triggered the investigation and the later release of the soldier.
«It is necessary to mention the level of violence demonstrated by the captors against the victim. They had amputated two fingers of his left hand,» said Ecuadorian National Police Colonel Fabary Montalvo. «Investigations continue by the investigators to find the whereabouts of the other perpetrators of this event,» he added.
