Gangsters kidnapped the wife of a Hong Kong company manager in Central America and demanded US$500,000 (HK$3.87 million) in ransom during a four-day ordeal.
Cheng Au Shuk-chun, wife of Cheng Nai-chiu, of the Ming Wah Trading Company, was held at gunpoint before being bundled into a car by two gangsters after they grabbed her in a street near her home in the Costa Rican capital, San Jose.
Her head covered by a plastic bag and her hands tied, she was driven to a house in a village a few kilometres outside the city.
The kidnappers telephoned the Ming Wah Trading Company in Hong Kong, which sells goods including plastic toys, a few hours later and demanded the ransom.
But the company alerted Hong Kong police, who taped a second call from the kidnappers. The tape was passed to Interpol.
Police traced the kidnappers and arrested them after freeing Mrs Cheng, who was unhurt.
