The Associated Press
LONDON- Armed police rescued a 19-year-old man who had been kidnapped and tortured, and arrested five suspects, Metropolitan Police said Wednesday.
The abduction apparently was related to crack cocaine dealing, police said.
Police said officers from the kidnap unit used a Hatton round - ammunition fired from a shotgun to penetrate automobile tires - to stop a car sighted in London on Tuesday night.
Three men in the car were arrested, and two others were arrested later, police said. Police said the suspects ranged in age from 19 to 29.
“At this early stage in the investigation it is believed the kidnap was in relation to crack cocaine drug dealing,” a police statement said.
The victim, a former London resident, had moved to Bristol in western England, police said.
“He was captured in Bristol and his kidnappers brought him back to London whilst demands of several thousand pounds were made for his release,” the statement said.