Report: Kidnappers demanded €90,000 for Breda men in foiled plot

The men who kidnapped Gino Heeren and Rien de Koning from a car dealership last week, demanded 90 thousand euros in ransom from their family, BN De Stem reported on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, the exact amount in ransom demanded is another reason for the police to believe the kidnappings had to do with conflict in the criminal world. The motive for the kidnapping is still unclear.

Heeren and De Koning spent three days locked up in horrible conditions before they managed to escape in the early morning hours of New Year's day. They were kept in a closed trailer in a barn in Ulicoten. "They were constantly shackled, had little to eat and drink and had to relieve themselves in their pants", Rienk de Groot of the detectives in West-Brabant and Zeeland said to the newspaper.

The two kidnapped men were able to give the police detailed statements about their experience. They do not know anything about the identity of their perpetrators or the reason they were kidnapped.

De Groot told the newspaper that they are hoping to learn more about the victims' background from their family. "We are talking to the family, but we have the impression that they are not telling us everything. We find that reprehensible", the detective said. The police recovered the blue bus in which the men were kidnapped and "a large amount of trace evidence" in the barn they were held. They are also working with dozens of tips received after the men were kidnapped.