Philippine police rescue a Chinese student whose finger was cut off by kidnappers

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine police safely recovered a Chinese student who was kidnapped by a Chinese-led gang, which killed his driver and cut off the student's finger in a bid to force his parents to pay a huge ransom, officials said Wednesday.

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the parents rejected the ransom demand but the kidnappers, who included former Filipino police officers and soldiers, abandoned the 14-year-old student Tuesday night in the middle of a busy street in metropolitan Manila when police closed in on their vehicle.

The Feb. 20 kidnapping of the student after attending classes at a British school in Manila set off alarms due to its brazenness and brutality.

Remulla told reporters that the student's family and the Chinese leader of the kidnappers allegedly were former operators of lucrative online gambling outfits, which flourished under former President Rodrigo Duterte but were ordered shut last year by his successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The online gambling outfits, which operated in the Philippines, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian countries, have catered to large numbers of clients in China, where gambling is prohibited.

"We know that this crime involved a Chinese against a Chinese,” Remulla said, adding that the student’s family and the kidnappers communicated in Chinese via the WeChat app.

After the closure of illegal gambling outfits in the Philippines, some turned to other crimes, including kidnapping, Remulla said. Officials said online cryptocurrency sites, love and investment scams remained a threat.

In a bid to pressure the student’s family to pay a ransom of $20 million, which was later reduced to $1 million, the kidnappers cut off the tip of the small finger in the victim's right hand and sent a video of the gruesome act to his parents, Remulla said.

The student's driver was killed and later found in an abandoned vehicle, where crucial evidence, including cellphone numbers, were found. The suspects apparently tried to leave the vehicle in a haste, Remulla said. The kidnappers have been identified and were being hunted, Remulla and police officials said.