Man escapes from two day abduction

| 23/03/2010



(CNS): Police have arrested two Honduran men following the Cayman Islands’ first ever abduction in which a young adult was taken hostage by his kidnappers on Thursday 18 March.


The parents of the victim reported to police that they had received a phone call that afternoon from a man claiming to have taken their son hostage. The suspect demanded a ransom of hundreds of thousands of dollars to secure their son’s release and warned he would kill the victim if they contacted the police. However, a few days later the victim managed to escape and shortly after the police arrested two men. (Photo: Deputy Commissioner Stephen Brougham and Commissioner David Baines)


At a press conference held at 2:00 on Monday afternoon Police Commissioner David Baines revealed the details of the crime and a sixday undercover police operation, during which time a hand-picked RCIPS team had worked in close cooperation with the family, had located where they believed the victim was being held and were ready to rescue the victim, before he himself managed to escape on the Friday afternoon.

At about 1:00 pm on Saturday, 20 March, a 36-year-old Honduran national was arrested at Owen Roberts International Airport as he attempted to flee the country. Baines said he was arrested on suspicion of abduction. Around 10:30 this morning, Tuesday 23 March, a second man was arrested as he too tried to flee the Cayman Islands. He is a 28-year-old Honduran, who was also arrested at the airport on suspicion of abduction.

Police have confirmed that the two men, who are believed to hold work permits, remain in custody as inquiries continue and police believe there are further people connected to the crime still at large. Baines said that he was unable to reveal full details of the crime as the police wished to retain certain intelligence in order to proceed with inquiries.

"This is still a very active investigation, therefore there are details about the enquiry which, at the present time, I am not prepared to release. These details include the identity of the victim or his family, the exact figure of the ransom demand, the location of where the hostage was held, and how he escaped from his captors."

The police commissioner said, however, that he believed the crime was a well orchestrated and planned operation in which the victim was selected with the expectation that the family would have been able to meet the ransom demand.

The integrity of the operation was preserved for the last six days, something Baines said illustrated that the RCIPS was more than capable of keeping important police intelligence under wraps as not one word of the six-day covert operation had leaked.

Revealing the chain of events following the call made to the mother of the victim and the threat to her son’s life, Baines confirmed that the family had put their trust in the hands of the police. Baines said a dedicated unit of RCIPS officers, led by Deputy Commissioner Stephen Brougham, who has experience in hostage taking, was formed immediately to begin covert investigations.

‘The RCIPS operation involved several international law enforcement agencies,” said Baines. Police knew that the parents had also spoken to their son confirming he had been taken against his will as well as the hostage-takers, who had demanded the cash in return for his life and threatened to kill him if the parents make contact with law enforcement.

“Despite the warning, the woman and her husband immediately contacted the RCIPS," Baines added. "A hostage negotiator was appointed, and he worked closely with the family throughout Thursday and Friday when subsequent calls were received from the hostage-takers,” Baines explained.“The family was completely on board with everything we were doing and put their trust in the police."

On Friday afternoon, the victim escaped from his captors and contacted his mother, who in turn contacted the police. The victim sustained leg, arm and face injuries as a result of the incident. He was taken to George Town Hospital and released following treatment.

Descriptions of the suspects were immediately circulated nationally and internationally by the RCIPS to other law enforcement agencies as well as the airport and port. Police then arrested the first of the two suspects at the airport.

“Thankfully these types of crimes are very rare in Cayman; in fact none of my officers can recollect any previous incidents of hostage taking on the islands,” Baines stated. “I am pleased that the family had the foresight, and the confidence, to contact the RCIPS. They put their trust in us to make sure their son was returned safely.”

The commissioner explained that since Thursday police have been working with officers from other jurisdictions who have experience of dealing with hostage situations, including the FBI and Jamaica.

He said that during the operation police had in a very short period of time been able to gather significant information and intelligence about the location of the hostage and the individuals involved.

The commissioner said he was proud of every one of the officers involved in this enquiry. "This force is often criticised, sometimes the criticism is justified, but on most occasions it is not. This was a difficult and sensitive enquiry – a young man’s life depended on it. The good relationship we quickly built with the family, combined with the integrity, professionalism, discretion and tenacity of the officers involved led to the quick arrests and the hostage being safely reunited with his family. That’s the outcome we all wanted to achieve,” Baines added.

He noted that the swift action of his officers would send a message to criminals in other jurisdictions in the region where this crime is not uncommon that the Cayman Islands is not the place where abductions will succeed.


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  1. Anonymous says:

    Erm, am I missing something?

    What did the RCIP actually complete successfully? The poor chap escaped himself and the abductors weren’t arrested at the scene (therefor the police weren’t anywhere near the place).

    Surely Commissioner Baines does not have long before his speeches about how good he and the RCIP are performing will become comical amongst all this escalating crime around us.

    "We have gun crime under control" he said to us months ago – shame on you Sir!!

    • FUZZY says:

      To  Anonymous Thu..10:32 Yes you are missing something.You are missing the point that they were successful in arresting someone for this crime.I certainly do not believe that the suspects went to the airport and then called the police to arrest them.Yes we have a lot of unsolved crimes ,but lets give credit wheres its due.

  2. Anonymous says:

    After reading about all the crime in Cayman, I have to ask. How much does obtaining residency / status cost again?  

    Dont’ you have to have a product before you can sell something?

  3. Anonymous says:

    A young caymanian woman was taken at gun point some years ago, raped and dragged down the road with her clothing caught in the car door. The rapist was a policeman and how it was covered up beggers belief.

  4. Anonymous says:

     Poster is right these are truly sad times for these islands Caymanians need to stand up and take back this island from this dire situation starting with the Police service That should never be. Caymanian’s and Caymanian’s only should determine their own destiny.

  5. Anonymous says:

     My question is a Police service fill with foreign nationals who suppose to have experience yet they had to bring foreign nationals FBI JCF to deal with foreign nationals tell me why we need them in the first place. I now cannot believe what i am see now we need more special constables. what is going on Cayman. The person who stated more police than Quakers have Oats is correct  What the have we gotten out of this massive expansion of the police service but more crime it is  blatantly obvious this is not a solution to the problem now is it.This Police service is making a mockery of this island when we have to heap praise on them for doing what we are paying them to do..

    • Anonymous says:

      Re=read this again.  They have someone here with experience in hostage situations and they consulted with the FBI and JCF.  I don’t understand the JCF part but the FBI has loads of experience with kidnappings.  What’s wrong with them consulting with these two branches of police?

      Everybody gets paid to do a job.  Maybe we should be more positive.  Praise one person every day.  Practise saying nice things.  All this negativity breeds gunmen.

      They proved that they can keep things quiet and no one find out.  Yes, they consulted with the FBI but the Cayman police still kept things under wraps.  I think they should get praise just for proving that but someone else said but that;s because the FBI was handling it.  # 1 the FBI wasn’t handling it  # 2 the Cayman police knew about it.

      I’m very pleased with the outcome.  Now public do your job.  Turn those gunmen in.

  6. Anonymous says:

    …and the UDP Premier and the Miller Report wants us to just about abandon the immigration process to open the door wide for another 100,000 people to come to the Cayman Islands. 

    Madness, I say madness.

    Control immigration very closely, limit the growth of expats.

    Red Shank

  7. Anon says:

    Glad to know the young man involved is safe and this ordeal is over for him and his family.

    To any smart as* out there who’s planning a stunt like this again, I have a bunch of green iguanas that’s tearing my garden apart so why don’t you be bold enough to come and abduct them and take them back where they came from? I’ll be glad to give you a few cents just to get rid of the suckers.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Correction!! It is not the first kidnapping on the Island.  What do you call the Estella Roberts gruesome ordeal?  She was kidnapped and murdered although no ransome was requested.

    • Anonymous says:

      This was different because the purpose of the kidnapping was to obtain a ransom, not to rape, rob and, horrifyingly, murder. This was the first time, tomy knowledge, this has happened in Cayman, although it is apparently commonplace in parts of central and south America. It appears to be quite an industry in those places.

    • Anonymous says:

      Response to 9:56…I thought the same exact thing you did and if my memory doesn’t fail me wasn’t there another kidnapping a few years ago when a girl and two guys (pretty young) kidnapped another girl and raped her?

      This commissioner needs to really really think before he opens his mouth and makes statements..again "we are watching the 15 known criminals" what a joke!!!

      Just like everything else, we don’t have gangs, we don’t have crime, we don’t have kidnappings!!!

  9. Anonymous says:

    Can anyone tell me why the newspaper is saying that ‘police bust up’ this thing? If I read correctly, the guy managed to escape. Is what they’re saying, that it was the police who helped him escape 2 HOURS BEFORE they got to the scene? I’m a little confused now. Apparently they were a little slow getting to the scene then seeing as to how they were caught at the airport. I hope that it wasn’t just by chance that they decided to go there and find them, but rather becasue they had already contacted airport security and immigration etc.! Since they had the situation all under controll and all. ..

  10. Anonymous says:

    It is time for Immigration to get out on the streets and in the communities and check their lists according to districts and they would be very surprised at the number of permit holders who are not employed.  They are not physically working, but busy selling drugs and corrupting our country.  Ihave seen enough in my area.  I have informed the Police and they turn a blind eye.

    The officers who are employed cannot even understand the Queen’s English.  They ask you to spell your name and you begin to spell it for them to write it, they write "H" for an "A", yet CAYMANIANS cannot land a job in the RCIP.   What a shame.  One trainee said he learnt how to arrest the Prison,  not how to arrest the Prisoner.  Think about that. 

    When is finger printing going to be put in place by our useless politicians.  They are very quiet on all the things that are happening.  Are they alive????

    • Anonymous Roadblocker & Blogger says:

      They will be much alive after four years when they are looking for a vote.  They seem to be contented with what is happening in this country – not even the effort of finger printing, or creating a District Task Force to weed out all the unemployed, gangs, burglars, road bombs, drug dealers, and more that becomes a detriment to our country.  We do have our own Caymanians that assist in these deeds, tricks and trades that are being presented and instilled in those unfortunate ones. 

      We must clean up our country and stop putting fears in the minds of our people and those who call here home.

    • anony says:

      Cayman needs a National Census inordeer to hel police and Immigration do their Job. anyone objecting to this, govt. official or otherwise has something to hide!  and maybe someone!

      CNS: Funny you should say that – 2010 Population and Housing Census

    • Joe Bananas says:

      Your so right.  NOW its time.  (hint:  if the people of Cayman won’t do it it will NOT get done)

      Yes that means nothing has been and will be done ever.  Get used to crime growing every day.

    • Anonymous says:

      Ha! It’s not only spelling issues some of these officers have. You need to hear some of the stories about when calls come in regarding an incident happening at certain areas on the island and time is wasted when some of these officers are totally clueless on exactly where they need to go! The answer is very simple; they haven’t been here long enough to learn about the island but yet this is who we have to call on to protect us. Not good.

  11. Sir Henry Morgan says:

    why don’t my comments ever get posted anymore? do i need to come up with a new name?

    CNS: The name is irrelevant.

  12. Anonymous says:

    Great job RCIP. Glad to see the helicopter has arrived, I am sure it will be used effectively.

  13. Financial advisor says:

    this is ridiculous, can any say Cay-lombia

  14. Come on Man! says:

    Clearly the VISA program needs an immediate review.

    Every single foreign national in this country should have their background reviewed in detail.  If there is nothing to hide, this should not bother them.  No, this is NOT the answer to all of our problems.  (I don’t hate foreigners – I don’t hate anyone. I love expats & tourists.  My livelihood depends on them.)  It is one of the many steps that must be taken in the fight against crime.  The next step is we have to look at ourselves – we have to watch each other.  We have to feed information on irregular behavior and questionable conduct to our police.  We have to help them.  We must take a stand.  I for one will be doing so.  Start a neighborhood watch program in your neighborhood. Come on CayMan!

     

  15. Anonymous says:

    Is this kind of thing common in Honduras? If it is, exactly why is Cayman Airways flying there? For crying out loud, it’s a third world country!

    Drop the route now and stop facilitating the easy entry/exit of these criminal low-lifes.

     
    • Anonymous says:

      I agree!!! Drop thats route like a hot cake immediately!!!!

    • Anonymous says:

      And why exactly are we still flying to Jamaica?   Isn’t it a third world country with one of the highest murder rates in this part of the world?  What about New York?  There are too many of those third world people there at the UN.  Oh and before I forget, Cuba.  We have to be careful some of those communists might get on the plane.  Maybe we should only fly to Little Cayman and the Brac.

      • Anonymous says:

        You can’t. Those are third world countries too.  

        The real problem is that we have such high esteem for ourselves, it is very hard for us to make the distinction between good and bad from any nationality, including our own.

  16. Anonymous says:

    Should CAL still be flying to and form Honduras it this is the sort of people the airline is carrying! Cayman is getting enough headlines of crime lately and something needs to be done NOW!

     

    The way things are going Cayman will be a no go holiday spot in less than a year! And we Love Cayman

    • Anonymous says:

      You sound rather ingnorant. Criminals can come from any country. So if this is the case then maybe we should just ground all airlines to and from the island. Please educate yourself as not to make comments like this. It’struly embarassing.

       XXXXXXX

      • Anonymous says:

         
        You sound rather naive, truth be told. Yes, criminals can come from any country. Educate yourself as to which countries it is common practice to kidnap the children of wealthy parents and then threaten to kill the child if a ransom is not paid. Are you a parent? There is a list, believe it or not. Look it up, please. Is this type of crime prevalent in the West Indies?Stop being so lazy in your condemnation. Educate yourself.
        • Anonymous says:

          You sound just as ignorant as the person who posted above you. The person who posted first is right….what do we do? There are many Caymanian/Hondurans here…so does that mean they don’t get to visit their families? You sound as stupid as you are ignorant…both of you.

      • Anonymous says:

        Friend, time to get real. There are serious criminal types arriving on our shores from places where kidnapping-for-cash is commonplace. Check with CNN/BBC for an update. Wake up, smell the roses, and, well, get with the program if it’s not too embarrassing for you personally. Thank you.

         
  17. Anonymous says:

    Who can we trust – Thank God he is alive,and with his family.  It is  disheartening to learn of this new tatic in the Cayman Islands. Abduction!!!  Never in my wildest dream  such actions could have taken place on Cayman. These people do not have a heart or any regard and respect for another man’s country.  Such nomads should not be allowed in here, but one never knows until thoroughly checked.  Law Enforcements did you do your job?  When last did you check the streets, or put your Enforcers in action???? – it is time for such to take place.

    Cayman has made a twist for the worse, we give away work permits like drinking a glass of water. This has got to stop!! Our people are part and parcel of our disasters, it is no time for griping, let us correct our wrongs and move on.

     

  18. inside job says:

    HOOOORAY for CAL and their new direct flights to honduras. at the time a few months back when this was announced, and everybody was shaking hands, inside job wrote of the dangers of close ties to a gang and drug riddled culture and society.

    time to call a spade a spade, they are here, their culture is here and their gangs (MS13 included) have arrived.

    oh – and for those on here asking ‘what next??’ – can you say more armed robberies – will be in the thursday compass.

    • Anonymous says:

      Following your logic ( or lack there of) perhaps CAL should stop flying to Grand Cayman also. Reason being is that most of the gun crimes are Caymanian vs. Caymanian

    • Anonymous says:

      Because of MS13 we better cancel flights to the US as well. Seeing as that is where MS13 was formed, LA to be exact.

    • Anonymous says:

      To "inside job" – obviously you don’t realize that there ARE other airlines out there which fly here???? Why are you blaming CAL???

  19. Anonymous says:

    There is a saying…. The first impression is the best impression. I know this might sound harsh but, Cayman should deal with this seriously, the ones responsible for this crime should automatically get life in prison.

    Yes, I am Honduran (Roatan) to be exact and it hurts to hear that this has took place here in Cayman. Back in the day before all the politics took a hold of Honduras, There was a man called Carrias… when something like this happens, the would hang him in the centerof town… to send a clear message to all wrong doers.

  20. Anonymous says:

    If this type of crime takes hold here, we’ll see a mass exodus of residents (including Caymanians). 

  21. Anonymous says:

    It is time to voice some difficult questions.

    I don’t have much faith in the police clearance certificates that come from some countries that have high rates of violent crime and rampant corruption. I know that most people who come here on work permits from countries with high crimes rates are honest and hard working. I also know that the labour that we import from countries in our neighbourhood which have long histories of high crime rates tends to be less expensive for their employers. These people are willing to work for little in our country as the violence and corruption of their own countries has destroyed their futures in those countries. 

    If we import labour from countries in which kidnapping is endemic with no real way of knowing who the criminals are, then it is only a matter of time until we import kidnappers and allow our country to sink to the levels of those countries from which we import cheap labour.

    I question whether we as a society can afford to take the chance of letting violent criminals into Cayman even if they are less expensive? Should we allow employers to employ labour from high crime areas just because they are willing to work for less than people who’s countries have not been ripped apart by crime? What about the cost to our society as a whole?

    How much have we as a society lost with this kidnapping – and I don’t mean just money? How many jobs have been placed at risk? How many tourists will read about it and decide to go somewhere else? How many potential investors will decide that they don’t need to invest in a place with murders and kidnapping being a regular occurrence? 

    If we allow even a few violent criminals from violent countries to enter Cayman on work permits and these criminals commit violent crimes here in Cayman, they will almost inevitably cause Cayman to descend into the same violent chaos as their native countries. They will cause local unemployment, drive up prison costs while government revenues decline and cause local social stresses in addition to the violent crimes that they commit directly. That will destroy Cayman. Should we allow employers to save a few dollars at the cost of our country?

  22. Q says:

    Kidnapping in the Cayman Islands what the hell is going With more foreign police than quaker has oats this just ain’t  adding up Cayman a destabilisation program is in play here. We need to watch and pay attention to this situation.

    • Anonymous says:

      Response to "Kidnapping in the Cayman Islands":

      Really, I am seriously sick of some of these ridiculously demented brains that keep clogging up comments with their stupid, rash, pointless, degenerate comments that would be funny if the issues they respond to weren’t so serious. Somebody PLEEAASE, tell me, what in heaven’s name does "more foreign police than quaker has oats" have to do with someone getting kidnapped. Local police are still in the police service and the poor guy still got nabbed. It was not possible for either the foreign police or local police to prevent it. You see, bird-brain, the kidnappers never tipped the police off. If you were on the force you would not have done any better because, see there, you, yourself, never knew that there was going to be a kidnapping either. XXXXX

    • Anonymous says:

      How would the Cayman police handle that situation?  They have no experience with kidnappings.  Lucky for us, we have someone from overseas with that experience.

      they deserve praise for handling well.

  23. Anonymous says:

     

     
    OMG, What is next??? I’m happy to hear that this young adult is safely back at home with his family.
    Let me say that it saddens; for me to hear that these are nationals from my birth country.  a CRIME is a CRIME and they MUST pay for their actions. 
    I commend the hostagefor his bravery in this ordeal and a great job to the RCIPS and all other bodies involved in catching these criminals in an incident that could have been detrimental!!!
    Abduction is a common crime just about anywhere in the world but unfortunately rampant throughout Latin and South America. These criminals will stop at nothing to get what they want, Quick Money!!!
    Food for thought: Quick Money is a result of “NO PAY” and perhaps our Immigration Department should look closely at this case as it could be one of those cold cases where an “employer” is too embarrassed to come forward and admit that he’s bankrupt and therefore has to close its door and has laid off staff and not report it??
    I feel it’s time for us citizens of these islands to do our part and shed light on these criminals and once and for all stop the finger pointing and protect our borders, so that we can all live harmonious.
     
  24. Anonymous says:

    This is everyday thing in Honduras!!!!

    • Anonymous says:

      Well, we can do without it happening in Cayman. Individuals who carry out acts such as this one are not welcome here.

  25. Anonymous says:

    I AM NOT A CAYMANINA (BY BIRTH) BUT THIS IS MY HOME SINCE I WAS FIVE. I THOUGH I WOULD NEVER HAVE TO SAY THIS BUT I AM SAYING IT TODAY…. I AM SO SHAME TO BE CALLED A HONDURAN!!! OMG I HAVE LIVED HERE ALMOST ALL MY LIFE AND I LOVE CAYMAN, THE PEOPLE BUT I ALWAYS SAID THAT I WOULD NEVER FORGET MY HOME HONDURAS!!!!..AND NOW BECAUSE OF SOME JACK MARERROS THE ONLY THING THAT WAS LEFT TO DO OR TO HAPPENED HAS NOW HAPPEND KIDNAPPING SOMEONE FORRANSOME

    I HOPE THAT THIS IDEA IS BLOWN OUT THE WINDOW GIVING THAT NOT ONLY THEY DIDN’T GET ANY MONEY THEY ALSO WILL BE FACING PRISON TIME.

    WELL RCIP I DON’T KNOW YOU’RE ROLE IN THIS BUT IF YOU SAY THAT YOU ALL WORKED WITH THE VICTIM’S FAMILY THEN CONGRADULATIONS….

     

     

    • anonymous says:

      Why would you be ashamed to be called a Honduran? 

      "One bad apple spoils the whole lot" when it is applied to people usually means that it would be a group who band/gang/hang out together.  Are you one of them?  In any country, not all people are alike.

       

       

    • Anonymous says:

      why should you be shame to be call honduran!!!

      dont let anything change the love one as for its country because everywhere have crime everywhere. and you cant dislike where your roots are from…. unless you dont love your family back there.

       

  26. Anonymous says:

    Is it just me… or does anyone else find it funny that the RCIPS is taking credit for something they didn’t do? I mean the guy escaped! It’s not like the police went in there and saved him.

    I will give credit where credit is due in that they did a good job in arresting at least two suspects. But they didn’t save this man… he saved himself.

    • Anonymous says:

      Your just not reading the story are you?? It’s more than just about the guy getting away – unless you have been trained in kidnap tactics, give them a break.  Criticize, negative, criticize, negative ……………………………..

  27. Anonymous says:

    Yes good job RCIPS indeed but please be sure there is enough evidence to charge and convict. It is truly disheartening to read that yet another suspect was released because of lack of evidence. To wit: alleged Mary Street daylight shooter, alleged CNB robbers, alleged second suspect in Jeremiah’s murder, etc., etc.

  28. Anonymous says:

    Great job RCIPS!! What I would like to know how they entered the Cayman Islands.  Were they here on work permit?  Who obtained a visa for them to visit Cayman?   Are they members of a gang from Honduras?  It is possible that they might have committed other crimes also.

  29. Anonymous says:

    To the poster at 16.25 Tuesday.  With regards to people here on Work Permits who commit crimes of any sort, have you ever thought to blame the Caymanians who granted them those Permits?  Foreign workers aren’t just given Work Permits with their air tickets, you know.  Why don’t the Work Permit Board members and/or the Immigration Department get some flak for not doing their jobs properly?

    • Anonymous says:

      I agree. Immigration needs to examine the employer. If employees have time to kidnap someone and hold them to ransom then they were hardly turning up on time and carrying out a full day’s work. If they were not working, and were here on permits, the employer has an obligation to inform immigration and cancel the permits. It is an offence not to. If that offence has been committed, please immigration, prosecute for it. Employers need  some accountability for who they bring in (and keep) amongst us.

    • Poster 19:51

       

      Work permit board can only act on what eveidence they have , here is the problem, the applicant get clean records from a jurisdiction that they dont live in, no police clearance etc, so what happen,they look good and pass the merits, but also how about the family members that live here and bring all of their gang related,criminals here, and  swear that they are the best man for the job, the immigration takes the blame for what you all should have done, stop fronting for your own nationals, caymanians get up off your duff and take the jobs big or small, thats how you will stop this mess, you me,all of us, stop bitching at the RCIP we have to be responsible too, you know about a lot of this and dont speak up. Want to stop it, Caymanian people start now apply for all jobs in sincerity and do it, caymanian[employers employ your own people, Caymanians you have to be more honest when it comes to work, go to work, give a good days work, see how fast the work permits will cease. We created this monster , now lets slay it.

      • Anonymous says:

        If they are getting Police Clearance from another Jurisdiction other than their place of BIRTH – this gives more cause to further investigate  their homeland, and previous places of work . Not  because they look good on paper, it still does not justify their background – more scrutiny is the best option before  granting a Work Permit. 

        Our monster is created both ways Caymanian & Foreignen workers, where they go to the extreme and Finance and secure job placements for friends. Caymanians can apply for jobs one million times only a small percentage is accepted. Why? because a friend of a friend holds a higher position and makes the decisions so their friend is accepted with no hassle – He or she has the Job – this is why Caymanians are SECOND CLASS in their own country. 

        Pardon me, if it sounds unreasonable but this is the case  in Caymman today.   Did you know ? "BOUNTY HUNTING" is a way of foreign employment to the Cayman Islands.  These positions are filled by work permit holders and payments received by recruiters per individual, depending on  experience and qualification.  Then we’re set to purchase our condos  (lol) poor cayman!!!. We all have to live here for the rest of our lives. 

         Is " Bounty Hunting" a part of the Immigration Staffing Plans? – and what is the Labour Department doing to make  more jobs available and working conditions in the work places better ?  So many sad stories are told by Caymanian employees of their treatment and threats in the work places. Have we ever thought that this is a creation of  crimes in our Islands? Get real!!!

  30. Roadblogger says:

    Kidnapping has been a MAJOR problem in Mexico for a long time.  It used to be that only wealthy individuals and family members were kidnapped now there is kidnapping of shopkeepers and others, for very small amounts.  Don’t know if this was wealthy family or not but I’m very glad their son is safe and kudos to the family for doing the right thing.  And not being intimidated.

  31. Anonymous says:

    You just do not get it.  We have a Premier who won’t implement any new revenue generating/taxation initiatives the Mother Country would like to see so they can rightly claim their house is in order.  The RCIPS fall under the auspices of the Governor.  If the crime rate continues to escalate along with the level of violence what choice are we left with?  Beg for the Crown to save us (and be forced to abide by their taxation initiatives) or be discarded off into independence (and no longer the Crown’s problem).  

    I for one say we put an end to this madness by ourselves and show the UK and the world that we can manage out own house.  Just like we did after Ivan.  Who is with me?

    • Anonymous says:

      Who is with you? What exactly are you proposing to do? Did we really manage our own house after Ivan? I seem to recall that the most senior officer on duty after Ivan was Derek Haines. He gave his teenage son an M-16 to assist him in controlling the looters until officers more senior than him crawled out from wherever they were hiding a few days later to say "we are in charge here".

      In all fairness it was not native Caymanians doing the looting, but neither were there many native Caymanian officers in the first 24 hours trying to get it under control.

      As someone whose roots are as deeply entrenched in Cayman as anyone else alive today, I say it is time to set aside false bravado and pride, and start acting with common sense.

      The best thing that we can show the UK is that the vast majority of Caymanians are respectful, intelligent, hard-working individuals capable of independent thought and not a bunch of extension cords (Caymanian term) programmed to repeat the rhetoric of some rabble-rousing despot with a personal agenda.

       

    • Anonymous says:

      Implementing taxes? you crazy.  joe is broke kidnapping people for money and you say taxes.  won’t that leave him with less money?

    • Anonymous says:

      Are you crazy??? we dont have all the means to do for ourselves…. I for one know if cayman goes independant i have 52 states to pick from!!!

    • anony says:

       Dear 19:23

      The Premier put which initiatives in place to generate what revenues?

      WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD THAT YOU IDIOTS ELECTED A GOVERNMENT WITH LEADERSHIP THAT DOES NOT HAVE THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERTISE TO RESOLVE A REVENUE ISSUE? 

      NONE OF THEM ARE CAPABLE OF DRAFTING A COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL PROJECTION IN THE FORM OF A FINANCIAL PROPOSAL!

      This is shameful. If you’re a strong back bencher why try to be  the leader?

      THERE HAS TO BE A CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT BEFORE 2013 AND THAT’S A FACT, NOT FICTION OR CREATION.

      ITS REALITY !

      We are suffering because people are taking up positions that they are NOT DULY QAUALIFIED TO FILL. They are sitting in someone’ else’s seat.And do not have the humility to step down and function in the space God has intended for them. They are power hungry and money hungry and will fight till death to stay in power just to prove that they can. Embarasing themselves locally and in front of the world, for a full term, how sad.

  32. Anonymous says:

    First of all I am thankful that the young man is safe. I also say thankyou to the RCIPS for their work on this case.

    I am also angry that our politicians still refuse to do anything to pass the laws we need to deter crime. Only they can pass the  tough new laws we need.

    WE NEED TOUGHER PUNISHMENTS, NO PAROLE FOR VIOLENT CRIMES AND PRISON REFORM TO ENSURE THAT CAYMAN IS NO LONGER VIEWED AS SOFT ON CRIME.

    What hold do the criminals have over our government which prevents them from bringing in the laws that we the people who elected them are demanding? Are the politicians getting some benefit out of the rampant crime? Do they feel that the crime that is tearing Cayman apart is not their problem now that our Premier has built an 8 foot high wall around his private home at the expense us the poor tax payers of this country?  Maybe if we the people march to demande the removal of the bodyguards that protect them then theywill show a bit of concern regarding what is happening. I am one fed up Caymanian.

  33. Awesome job! says:

    I am  VERY proud of the RCIPS in their handling of this matter and thrilled to know this family has gotten their son home safely. God job to all the officers and agencies involved!

  34. Anonymous says:

    Great Job!

  35. pants on the ground says:

    WAY TO GO KID YOU GOT GUT’S

  36. Anonymous says:

    This is why we need the fingerprinting regime in place coupled with CCTV atthe airport and elswhere.   

    • BS says:

      Why?

      Does Cayman have access to other countries fingerprint and criminal databases?

      If you mean a system like the US all that does is compare to their list of criminals on entry, the fingerprints are then wiped from their system.

      They do not record all the finger rpints of entries due to privacy issues.

      So what would fingerprinting everyone at entry done to stop this crime? had the 2 alleged felons commited a crime and been caught and convicted for it in Cayman already?

      Otherwise this will just be more wasted money on a system that is pointless

      Now roll on the thumbs down for speaking common sense

      • Anonymous says:

        But we would use the fingerprint info for all residents, so we would benefit.

  37. Durrrr says:

    I’m happy to give credit where it’s due, but Baines is blowing his own trumpet a little too hard in my opinion… the victim did free himself after all.

    • Ronnie says:

      Blow your own trumpet Mr. Baines.  I fully support the Police and wish others would do the same and maybe we can solve all these crimes.  I am so happy that the victim was able to free himself and is now home safely with his family and happier still that the Police have arrested two suspect and still actively looking for the others.  I say GOOD JOB to our Police Force and "THANKS" for all your efforts.

      • If I Could I would says:

        If I could blow my own trumpet I may never leave the house again.

  38. PaperCaymanian says:

    Too many work permit holders are being allowed to wander around without an actual job to do. I would like to see our workpermit holders start cancelling permits if they cannot keep their people busy. We have to have faith that we will be able to reassemble the workforce when the economy picks back up.I bet we won’t hear who their employer was or how many hours a week they have been getting paid. I would think it would be difficult to keep someone captive while maintaining a full time job.

  39. Anonymous says:

    This is not the first abduction in Cayman. A young canadian was abducted by a drugs gang when he failed to pay for his drug use. he was taken for 2 days and released when the debt was paid….What did the police do,,,,,,left the gang alone and got the young canadian off island in a jiffy.

    This happened 6/7 years ago

  40. Anonymous says:

    WHAT NEXT….???

  41. Anonymous says:

    You realize that the flood gates have opened and just about any criminal act is now possible in the Cayman Islands.

    The sooner the local population realize that the RCIPs are the solution and not the problem the better for us all.

    Where would we be if this brave family had not contacted the police? If this kidnapping would have succeeded it would just open the door for more of them.

    When the country turns against the local criminal element we will all be better off.

     

  42. Anon says:

    The young man ESCAPED!  The police didn’t find him.  How is that sending a message that the Cayman Islands is not a place where abductions will succeed?

    • Twyla Vargas says:

      Please!!! for Pete,s sake, give the police some slack naw.  The police did a good job and should be praised for it.

      I am very happy that the young man was not harmed,   What this shows me is that we just have to be careful and observant of our surroundings.

      However there has to be finger pointing at some one some where.   So many criminals are allowed ro come here and work when they have criminal records back home.   Will some one answer this question.  Why cant the Immigration department, send a fax, email, or horse and cart, requesting the police clerance from the jurisdiction where the applicant is from?   Then they can charge the fees to the applicants application.

      Why blame the police? they did not bring criminals to the Island.  The police have the unthankfull job of trying to round them up. 

      Una talk about Caymanians lazy an don whan wok, well aw tell una onething.  Una betta stick te the foolishnes una know cause we naw have no whey fe run.

    • Anonymous says:

      As long as the perpetrator is NOTfrom Cayman, he will be caught. 

  43. Anonymous says:

    Good job RCIP.  I cannot believe what I am hearing. KIDNAPPING in Cayman?  Now we have seen everything!!!  I really hope that these 2 a$$holes who committed this crime will be put away for the rest of their lives.  CNS are you able to tell us what the penalty for Kidnapping is in the law books?  Does it carry a life sentence?

  44. Anonymous says:

    This is truly the last straw – it would take a permit holder from a third world country to try and pull something as terrifying as this. Now everybody else who is a criminal will now be trying the same thing. Abduction will become the new form of robbery. What a shame. I swear that every law abiding person on this island need to carry a weapon for their protection. The criminals carry them why not me.

  45. Anon says:

    Lord have mercy! WHAT NEXT????!!!!

  46. Anonymous says:

    OMG! What Cayman has come to??  

  47. Anonymous says:

    Give them the chair!!! Zero tolerance.

  48. Anonymous says:

    I was wondering when the kidnapping would start.  Next the suicide bombers.

  49. Floodgates of Hell! says:

    What on earth is happening to my beautiful isle Cayman? When did the floodgates of hell open up and evil incarnate begin residing on our shores? It’s like every possible unheard of and outrageous criminal act has now been unleashed and we are existing in the most lawless society in the Caribbean….REALLY?!?!

    When did the shift in good vs evil take place? Where was I slumbering? I slept through the notice that the good and upright citizens should evacuate the sinking ship in favour of safer shores on which to raise our innocent children.

    I am truly frightened! I am terrified of what worse is to come. I am fearful of the violence as yet unknown and the horrors still to be seen, heard, felt…

    Where can I go from here? This is paradise. This is heaven. This is my home and it has begun to crumble and rot and marinate in the juices of hellish anarchy and lunacy and mayhem.

    I am clicking my heels 3 times…there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…over the rainbow!

     

    • Anonymous says:

      30 January 2007 Cayman Net News

      "It (Rollover) replaces people with X years experience in (Country) with people with no experience and expels those people who can benefit the country most. 

      It guarantees that guest workers will have less commitment to the country and be less understanding of culture. It dramatically increases the likelihood that non-(Country) will see the island as a place to make money and clear out, to the detriment of the locals."

      You see, my dear, we feared that if people who had lived here peacefully for 15, 20, 25 years remained, they would eventually commit the ULTIMATE crime of "getting old" and this would negatively affect the social services of one of the wealthiest places in the world. So we implemented a system to kick them out and bring in new people on a trial and error basis. 

      How did we implement this. I must add, without ANY empirical evidence. We told you:
      1) There would be no money for you when you got old. 
      2) That foreigners would end up with more votes.
      3) The Caymanians would have better job opportunities. 
       
      There is a thing called the "Law of Attraction". That is, if you want to be loved, first you must show love. When Cayman showed love to outsiders, the islands prospered. When Cayman took away its love, the decline started. Its sad to say, but Cayman, you have gotten what you unwittingly wished for.
       
      So sad. I wish we could turn the clock back to the "good old days".
       
       

       

      • Anonymous says:

        Caymanians showed love to outsiders, but in recent times a large number of outsiders have shown no love for Caymanians. You miss that from your rationale.

  50. Anonymous says:

    Good gracious! We knew it was coming. Praise God the hostage escaped. Watch this type of crime esalate now – unfortunately.

  51. A Concerned Caymanian says:

    This is sad…. What is going on in Cayman?!  God help our country!

  52. Anonymous says:

    I was wondering how long it was going to take.  It is here now and we need to do something about it.  Great news that the men were caught and I think it is now clear that we need to stop letting in just anybody.  In Honduras you can buy police clearance reports so perhaps there should be a crackdown on any more immigration from those areas.  The police need to be ARMED.  Why so much hesitation from government, politician and the police?  Bring in a task force before all is lost.  To the people of Cayman, please let’s take to the streets in march to protest and insist that a major task force be implemented immediately – one from overseas with experience!  What we have is obviously not enough.

  53. Around & Around We Go..... says:

    This is a new level of crime we are seeing and now it makes you wonder????? I know the person and I am happy he made it out safe but now down to the bigger problem with all this new crime going on does our legal system have things in place to really push out hard time for this kind of act or will they get a slap on the hand and be sent home? It makes one wonder!!! The crime is jumping not in steps but in leaps… all I can say is unit my fellow people and stand for what is right…

    WHAT NEXT????????

    Once again Stay Safe My People….

  54. Anonymous says:

    Lord have mercy on us! What’s next?!

  55. Twyla Vargas says:

    NO SIREE. WHAT NEXT,,…………………….

  56. Anonymous says:

    What?

    • Anonymous says:

      Parents need to keep their kids from the company of these rebels who are coming here and getting them involvedwith drugs. Whether their kids are born outside their marriage or in the marriage they should be properly supervised and taken care of.