Father’s dread as son held for ransom in Myanmar

KOTA KINABALU: Abdul Rahman Hamid has been having sleepless nights, and he is worried that he might get a stroke.

His son, Mohd Addie Azrinn, the third of six, has been calling him and everyone on his phone’s contact list, pleading for help to rescue him from his kidnappers.

Abdul Rahman, 60, said his son had fallen victim to a syndicate, currently held captive in Myanmar, and they are demanding US$30,000 in ransom for his release before Oct 30.

Failure to pay, he was told that the syndicate would sell his son to another for group for organ trafficking.

“I am a retiree and live in a PPRT (Hardcore Poor Housing Programme) home in Kinarut. It is impossible for us to raise that much money,” he told the media at the Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) office, here, on Friday (Oct 25).

Abdul Rahman said he had been putting a strong front in front of his family, but he was hurting deep down, especially after reading heart-wrenching messages sent via WhatsApp from his son.

“My son said to me, ‘Don’t let them sell me to an organ trafficker’,” Abdul Rahman recalled, his voice breaking into tears, adding: “He was crying and begging me to get the money. I know my son — when he cries like that, it’s real.”

In one of his last messages, his son was asking if they had transferred the money, saying that it has to be done before the deadline and that the syndicate does not want the government to be involved.

“I told him that I am trying to raise the funds, going everywhere until my head hurts. I cannot sleep. Told him to be patient, and not to pressure me because I fear I might not be able to move or get a stroke. I reminded him to pray and think of Allah,” he said.

Addie, 29, is among thousands of victims who fall for fake lucrative job offers abroad.

“He was offered an all-paid-for five-day trip to Thailand with a pay of 2,000 baht (about RM257) plus RM250. I told him that it was not worth the trip. I was actually having a bad feeling about the arrangement,” said Addie’s eldest brother, who does not wish to be named.

The 37-year-old brother said that they had learned about the offer from Addie’s former schoolmate.

“His schoolmate was the first offered the job, but he could not accept because they were currently waiting for the birth of their child. So he offered it to me, but since I already had a job, he asked my (younger) brother.

“My brother was doing a dispatch job before losing his job when the company shut down. He has been freelancing ever since to earn an income. So, of course, when he was told of the offer, he became excited – not only would he get paid, but the job included a free trip abroad. The next thing I know, he was all set to fly to Thailand,” said the elder sibling, adding that Addie only told his mother about the trip.

Addie left for Thailand on Oct 17 and was supposed to return home on Oct 23, at least according to his return ticket.

The following day, the elder sibling saw Addie’s WhatsApp status that they were asked to board another car and would be taken for a six-hour journey.

“I immediately texted him and asked where the people were taking them, but he, too, was not sure. We texted each other for a bit, but after a while, all communications just stopped. It was days later when we started hearing from him, that was when he told us he was held captive and the kidnappers demanded ransom for his release,” he said.

The elder brother said they have exhausted all efforts, including lodging a report with the police in both countries – Malaysia and Myanmar, contacting the embassy office and even seeking friends help, but to no avail.

Their last resort was reaching out to MHO, hoping that they would be reunited with Addie soon.

Also present at the press conference was MHO Sabah operations officer, Captain Jerry Jaimeh.

“His call for help does not stop among the family only. Apparently, everyone in his contact list has been called, asking for help to come up with ransom money. We found out about this because his friends double-checked with us,” said Abdul Rahman.

Abdul Rahman added that apart from his son, there was a female Chinese national who was also in the same car with him when they were travelling to the highly guarded location in Myanmar.

“He told me that the woman had paid RM500,000 to the syndicate, an amount maxed out on her credit card, yet she was still held captive as the kidnappers were demanding an additional US$50,000.

“Apparently, the Chinese woman intended to use the half a million for a gold transaction business, but she was also cheated. My son said they were together at first, but the captors have since separated them,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jerry said his team is actively trying to rescue the victim based on the law and advised the victim’s family not to pay any ransom and discouraged them from frequently contacting the victim to reduce the risk to the victim’s safety.