J’can businessman still missing in T&T

One week after his disappearance, police are continuing their search for 30-plus-year-old Jamaican businessman Yohan Chin, who was abducted from his home in south Trinidad on Sunday, April 14, by men pretending to be cops.

The police say they believe a US$6 million ransom is being asked for Chin’s release and have detained his 36-year-old business partner, who had reported the kidnapping to them last Tuesday evening.

According to the police, the partner said on the evening of April 14, he received a call from Chin indicating that earlier during the day four armed men – two wearing ski masks and two with hats with the word ‘police’ written on them – came to his home.

He reportedly said Chin indicated that he had been taken to an unknown location and had asked him to organise some money, promising to call back with further instructions.

The police said the partner told them that Chin later called and gave him further instructions, including to go to his home and secure a Porsche car for safe keeping.

But according to the partner, when he arrived at the house, it was ransacked.

On Tuesday, Chin is reported to have again called the partner asking him to sell the Porsche as well as his personal car, a Mercedes-Benz.

The victim also reportedly called the business partner several times and asked him to contact their lawyer to organise and sell a piece of land which they intended to do business.

Late last week, the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian reported that police were probing in­for­ma­tion that the kid­nap­ping was orchestrated by drug kingpins posing as legitimate luxury car dealers.

A source told the newspaper that it was possible that Chin was set up by the drug lords posing as car deal­ers, who are now demanding US$6 million ransom in return for his safety.

In Trinidad, the majority of violent crimes (homicides, kidnappings, assaults, robberies, sexual assaults) are gang/drug-related or domestic in nature. A significant, growing portion is attributed to the influence of gangs, illegal narcotics, and firearms.

According to police crime statistics, there were 102 kidnappings in 2017. In 2016, there were 102 cases and 106 in 2015. There were six kidnappings for ransom in 2017, of which four were solved.

CMC