Abduction of Chloe Ayling

In 2017, British model Chloe Ayling was abducted by an individual claiming to be a member of a criminal organisation called the Black Death Group.

Black Death Group

The Black Death Group is alleged to be based in Eastern Europe and operating on the dark web over frequently-changing URLs.[1][2] The group was investigated by Interpol in 2015.[3][4] The group has also posted images of captives for sale; however, those postings are largely considered to be fake, since further investigation determined that they were taken from a pornographic film.[1]

Abduction

The group gained notoriety in 2017 when a British model, Chloe Ayling, was kidnapped in Italy by a Polish man named Łukasz Herba, who lived in Oldbury, West Midlands; Herba claimed that he intended to auction her off on the site.[5][6]

Herba, a computer programmer, lured Ayling from London to a fake photo studio in Milan and then injected her with ketamine, put her in a holdall bag and took her in the trunk of a car to a farm. After six days, Ayling was released, and Herba was arrested after dropping her off at the British consulate. Shortly into the investigation, the brother of Łukasz Herba, Michał Herba, who runs a transport logistics company called Her Trans Logistics Limited, was also arrested.[7]

The court heard that Łukasz Herba pretended to be from the Black Death Group, involved with selling sex slaves in Saudi Arabia. Herba claimed in his defense that he had fallen in love with Ayling and was trying to promote her career by creating a scandal.[8]

In June 2018, Herba was convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to sixteen years and nine months in prison; Herba's brother Michał, who denies any involvement, is alleged to have been involved in the kidnapping and is in the process of being extradited from the UK. Herba said in the closing statement of his trial that he was inspired after watching the movie By Any Means.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 Cox, Joesph (July 17, 2015). "My Brief Encounter with a Dark Web 'Human Trafficking' Site". Motherboard. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  2. ↑ Cotovio, Vasco (August 6, 2017). "British model kidnapped for dark web auction, Italian police say". CNN. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  3. ↑ ""The Black Death group:" British model kidnapped in Italy to be auctioned off on pornographic website on dark web". Fox News. August 5, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  4. ↑ Nadeau, Barbie Latza (August 7, 2017). "Inside 'Black Death Group,' the Dark Web Gang That Kidnapped a Model". The Daily Beast. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  5. ↑ Ferrarella, Luigi. "Rapita a Milano modella inglese. "All'asta sul web per 300mila euro"". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 2017-08-06.
  6. ↑ Italiano, Laura (2017-08-05). "Accused Italian kidnapper linked to group called 'Black Death'". New York Post. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
  7. ↑ Latza Nadeau, Barbie (16 August 2017). "Second Man Arrested in British Model Chloe Ayling's Kidnapping". Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "Chloe Ayling 'vindicated' over kidnapper's conviction". BBC. Jun 11, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Chloe Ayling 'vindicated' over kidnapper's conviction". BBC. Jun 11, 2018.
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