Third abduction linked to Amsterdam man's disappearance

The kidnapping of Amsterdam man Soufyan Essabaouni and Landsmeer man Wendle Meijer may have been preceded but at least one other abduction, Het Parool reports.

An investigation team consisting of dozens of detectives is working around the clock. It seems that these abductions may be related to a conflict surrounding hard drugs and money. According to the newspaper, a white Audi A4 Avant - the same car used in Meijer's abduction on Tuesday last week - was also used in an earlier abduction. A burnt out Audi was found in Almere early on Sunday morning. The police are looking for witnesses who can give more information on the Audi's whereabouts in the last few weeks.

The owner of the car Soufyan Essabaouni was driving when he disappeared in a parking lot in Zwanenburg on Thursday, is now also nowhere to be found. The owner is Essabaouni's uncle Mohamed, not his cousin as previously reported. According to the newspaper, he is known as a drug dealer and a partner of Wendel Meijer.

Essabaouni's family therefore believes that uncle Mohamed was the intended target of the kidnapping, not Soufyan. Nevertheless, there's been no sign of the 21-year-old Amsterdam man since Thursday. It is not 100 percent certain that Essbaouni was in fact kidnapped. The last surveillance footage of him shows him running away while his attackers fire shots at him.

The police are very concerned about the victims. "In this environment everyone knows that aggravated assault or torture are common in this kind of kidnapping", Ron Lapre, leader of the investigation, said to the newspaper.