Model tells of ‘ terrifying’ kidnap

> Gang allegedly tried to auction her as sex slave on dark web

LONDON: A British woman who was kidnapped in Milan and held captive for six days while a criminal gang tried to auction her online as a sex slave has spoken out.

Glamour model Chloe Ayling ( pix), 20, told reporters at Coulsdon, south London, that during the ordeal she had no idea if she would live to tell the tale.

“I’ve been through a terrifying experience. I’ve feared for my life, second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour,” she said.

“I’m incredibly grateful to the Italian and UK authorities for all they have done to secure my safe release.

Ayling gave a detailed account of the alleged abduction to Italian police.

“Somebody wearing black gloves came up from behind me and put one hand on my neck and the other over my mouth, while a second person wearing a balaclava injected me in my right arm,” she was quoted as telling police by Italy’s Corriere della Sera.

It is believed she was drugged with horse tranquilliser ketamine and stuffed inside a bag before being bundled into the boot of a car on July 11 after she was lured to Milan on the pretext of a photo shoot.

She was then said to have been kept in a house tied to furniture for six days while her alleged abductors apparently auctioned her on the dark web for £230,000 (RM1.2 million).

In her statement, Ayling described the moment she regained consciousness after being drugged.

“When I woke up I was wearing a pink bodysuit and the socks I am wearing now,” she said.

“I was in the boot of a car with my wrists and ankles handcuffed, adhesive tape on my mouth. I was inside a bag and was only able to breathe through a small hole.”

Milanese police believe she was transported in the bag to Borgial, an isolated village near Turin, before being released on July 17.

An online advert is reported to have been created using a photograph of Ayling showing her curled up with a calling card on her stomach offering “sexual services” and giving her vital statistics.

Italian newspaper Il Giornale reported Ayling was told she would be sold outside of Europe.

“He (one of the alleged kidnappers) told me that he alone had earned more than 15 million in the last five years and explained to me that all the girls are destined for the Arab countries,” the paper quoted her as saying.

“When the buyer gets tired of the girl bought by auction (they) can give them to other people, and when it is no longer of interest they are to become a ‘tiger meal’.”

Ayling said she was told several potential buyers had been lined up before the kidnappers had a change of heart.

Black Death, the organised crime group suspected of her kidnap, claimed they released her without receiving any payment after finding out she has a twoyear-old child, Italian police said.

Italian police have confirmed they are looking for at least one other man following the arrest of British-resident Pole Lukasz Pawel Herba, 30, on charges of abduction and illegal imprisonment.

According to Italian media reports, citing leaked files from the investigation, Ayling has told police she saw two men and was aware of three others but never saw their faces during her ordeal. – The Independent/AFP