British former consul Colin Armstrong kidnapped from home

A British businessman and the former UK honorary consul in Guayaquil, Colin Armstrong, has been kidnapped by hooded men at his home in Ecuador’s Los Rios province, El.kz reports citing The Guardian.

Armstrong, 78, was snatched in the early hours of Saturday alongside a Colombian woman identified as his partner Katherine Paola Santos from his home in the town of Baba, according to a police report seen by the Guardian. He was driven away in his own black BMW, which was later found dumped, the report said.

Kidnappings for ransom have become increasingly common in Ecuador as surging violent crime – largely fuelled by drug trafficking gangs – has transformed the country from among the safest in Latin America to the most dangerous in just five years, according to a 2022 Gallup poll.