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Osama Turned to Kidnapping to Raise Cash

Al-Qaeda was increasingly cut off from funding sources

(Newser) - Even terrorists have to pay the bills, and files taken from Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad show that al-Qaeda was increasingly cash-poor and turning to kidnapping and ransom as a way to raise some revenue. The shift shows that a crackdown on al-Qaeda's funding has proven financially... More »

Freed Yacht Couple Opens Up About Traumatic Year

Retired Brits spent year held captive by Somali thugs

(Newser) - The retired British couple who was released yesterday after a year held hostage by pirates who seized them as they sailed the ocean in their yacht opened up about their ordeal, saying one of their most difficult parts was being severely beaten when they refused to be separated during their... More »

Thieves Demand Ransom for Cyprus President's Corpse

Body discovered dumped at another cemetery

(AP) - The mystery behind the bodysnatching of Cyprus' former president seems to have been solved: The island nation's justice minister today ruled out a political motive, revealing that a ransom demand had been made. He said Tassos Papadopoulos' family had received a demand for ransom for the return of the body,... More »

Bickering Pirates Shoot Each Other Over $7M Ransom

Somalis had called on antipiracy force to fend off rivals

(Newser) - At least three Somali pirates have been killed fighting over the biggest ransom in the history of piracy. A gun battle broke in out the pirate haven of Harardhere last night after a record $7 million was paid to secure the release of the Greek supertanker Maran Centaurus, its $150... More »

Cops Bust Pot Grower With Fake Ransom Note

Florida police didn't think it would work, but then again...

(Newser) - Florida police burned an alleged marijuana grower twice, or perhaps thrice, when they confiscated his crop, left a ransom note, and then arrested him when he answered it. A citizen tipped cops to the six large plants growing on a vacant lot. They grabbed them, and hoping for a bit... More »

Somali Pirates Demand $7M Ransom for UK Couple

Paul and Rachel Chandler went missing a week ago

(Newser) - The British couple abducted from their yacht at gunpoint are being held for $7 million ransom, a rep for the Somali pirates who kidnapped them said today. Paul and Rachel Chandler went missing a week ago in the Indian Ocean. "NATO operations had a lot of negative impact here,... More »

Hijackers Threatened to Scuttle Russian Freighter

(Newser) - The hijackers of the Russian-crewed freighter Arctic Sea planned to destroy it if their ransom demand was not met, Reuters reports. “The crew members have already confirmed that the captors demanded a ransom and threatened to blow up the vessel,” says a Russian defense official. There was no... More »

Ransom Demand Made for Lost Ship

(Newser) - The missing Maltese-flagged ship that was reported off the coast of Africa appears to have been hijacked for a second time, CNN reports. “There has been a demand for ransom,” a Finnish police official said of the Russian-crewed Arctic Sea. “We are now dealing with two separate... More »

Times Reporter Planned Escape for Weeks

Newspaper was prepared to pay $5M ransom to Taliban

(Newser) - David Rohde escaped from the Taliban only after weeks of planning, taking advantage of a length of rope to aid his descent down a 20-foot wall, the New York Times reports. The journalist and his Afghan colleague waited until a night when the city had electrical power, so the sound... More »

Somali Pirates Release Togo Ship, Score $100K Ransom

Tanker was to deliver food aid to Somalia

(Newser) - Somali pirates have released a Togo-flagged cargo ship that was to deliver food aid to their own country, the BBC reports, but only after securing a ransom rumored to be $100,000. “Somali traders were involved in the release,” a pirate source told Reuters. They paid “not... More »

Somali Pirates Score $3.2M Ransom, Release Arms Ship

Pirates receive $3.2M ransom after September hijacking

(Newser) - Crime does pay—to the tune of the $3.2 million ransom that Somali pirates collected today in exchange for releasing a Ukrainian ship they hijacked in September, reports the BBC. The pirates had initially sought $20 million for the arms-laden MV Faina, which had been en route to Kenya.... More »

5 Somali Pirates Drown With Ransom Share

Tanker released after $3M airdrop, but pirate boat flips in storm

(AP) - Five of the Somali pirates who released a hijacked oil-laden Saudi supertanker yesterday drowned with their share of a reported $3 million ransom after their small boat capsized, the AP reports. The boat, with eight people on board, overturned in a storm; three people reached shore after swimming for several... More »

Pirates Free Saudi Tanker, Get $3M Ransom

Ship headed to safety after November capture

(Newser) - A Saudi tanker taken by Somali pirates in November has been freed after a $3 million ransom was paid, a pirate negotiator said. Pirates have left the ship, which is now headed to safety. The Sirius Star, which carried 2 million oil barrels and 25 crew members, was the largest... More »

Freed Hostages Blast Pirates

Hostages released as Somali pirates seize another ship

(Newser) - Crew members freed from a ship seized by Somali pirates say they were harshly treated by their captors and lived in fear of being killed, CNN reports. The men, greeted by relieved friends and family when they arrived home in India, say they were constantly held at gunpoint in a... More »

Pirates Cut Saudi Tanker Ransom to $15M

Discount from $25M after biggest maritime hijacking in history

(Newser) - After the biggest hijacking in maritime history, Somali pirates have cut their ransom demand for a Saudi supertanker from $25 million to $15 million, Reuters reports. The Sirius Star, carrying $100 million in oil and 25 international crew members, was nabbed southeast of Kenya and has been moved to 62... More »

Pirates Demand $25M for Saudi Supertanker

Saudis have ten days to pay up to save crew and oil

(Newser) - Pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker and its crew have demanded a $25 million ransom from its owners within 10 days, reports the Guardian. The Sirius Star, which is carrying 2 million barrels of oil, is one of an astounding 17 ships being held by pirates off the coast of... More »

Somali Standoff Continues as Nations Move to Fight Piracy

EU plans force to combat maritime criminals, who took $30M in ransom in '08

(Newser) - With pirates still holding a munitions-laden ship off Somalia’s coast, the European Union plans a security force to crack down on maritime crime in the area, the BBC reports. The US Navy has surrounded the MV Faina to ensure the weapons aboard are not given to terrorists, and Somalia... More »

Virtual Kidnap Latest Crime Wave in Mexico

Crooks claim to have kids; terrified parents pay up

(Newser) - Mexican crooks are putting a new twist on an old crime with "virtual kidnapping," the New York Times reports. The criminals are cashing in on the widespread fear of kidnapping by calling families and pretending to have snatched a loved one—usually a child—for ransom. Many panicked... More »

Spain Speeds to Save Pirate Hostages

Fishing boat is latest target of Somali brigands

(Newser) - A Spanish naval frigate is steaming to the waters off Somalia to rescue crew members of a tuna boat seized by pirates, reports the BBC. The boat was grabbed just days after French commandos freed hostages from a luxury yacht comandeered by Somali pirates. The tuna boat's 26 crew members... More »

Ignore Pirates or Face Asylum Claims, UK Says

Navy argues blind eye not best policy

(Newser) - In an odd new take on piracy, the British Royal Navy has been told by the Foreign Office not to detain pirates—or they may seek asylum to escape death sentences in their home countries. It's not a strategy roundly hailed. “These people commit horrendous offenses. It’s a... More »

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