Greek police arrested two of the three kidnappers involved in the abduction of the 27-year-old woman who is the niece of the owner of the Asteras Tripoli Football Club. The woman was taken hostage on October 31 and released on November 9 after her family paid 82,500 euros in ransom. The money was recovered and the two men were charged with kidnapping, robbery, blackmail, conspiracy, possession of armament and minor bodily harm.

The police believe that a 48-year-old Greek man from the suburb of Nea Ionia was the “brains” of the operation. The man once owned a transport company that closed due to financial problems and he then went to work for another transport company whose owner was a close friend of the 27-year-old girl’s father. The idea for the abduction came during the father’s visits to the company where he would discuss his brother-in-law’s financial situation.

He was arrested, along with a 53-year-old man from Kazakhstan who owns a bar in the suburb of Menidi. The third man, is an Albanian national known simply as “Alekos”.

It took the three men over six months to plan the abduction of the girl. They gathered a great deal of information via Facebook which is where they learnt about the young woman’s place of work and where she spent a great deal of time.

The abduction took place outside her house in the suburb of Kypseli at 10 p.m. on October 31. The kidnappers called the father for ransom money on November 9 and investigations showed that the call was made from the seaside area of Loutsa. Door-to-door investigations found the hideout where the girl had been kept at a house owned by the 38-year-olds mother-in-law.

CCTV footage from 100 cameras and genetic material found on the clothes of the 27-year-old matching that of the 48-year-old also helped the police in their investigation. Another giveaway is the fact that the girl had asked for clothes that they bought from a specific store as well as sweets from a certain confectionary store.

CCTV footage of kidnapper buying clothes for the 27-year-old woman

The young woman identified one of the two abductors from his voice and body type.

The house where the woman was held hostage

The two men arrested confessed to the crime and described the incident. They said that their motivation was purely financial as a result of their economic problems. Both appeared before a prosecutor on Sunday.

The road she was left after being abducted