Chinese consuls fly to Zamboanga to check on kidnapping of young businessman

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines–Two Chinese consuls based in Cebu flew to Zamboanga City on Friday and met with regional police authorities in Western Mindanao about the  kidnapping of a Chinese national in Zamboanga Sibugay.

Chief Superintendent Edgar Basbas, Western Mindanao police director, would not elaborate on the meeting, saying only the authorities briefed consuls Zhang Weiquo and Zhang Chunhao  on the progress of  the investigation and efforts to locate and free Li Pei Zhei, who was abducted in Kabasalan, Zamboanga Sibugay on Thursday.

“Jointly together with the Armed Forces Special Forces company, we conduct continuing pursuit operations,” Basbas said.

He said the Chinese consuls were also told that the identities of the kidnappers had not been determined yet.

“We are also studying the modus operandi, if there was similarity to past kidnappings, and from there, probably we can determine what group was behind,” he told the Inquirer on Saturday.

Senior Superintendent Jose Bayani Gucela, spokesperson of the Western Mindanao police office, said the last known location of the group that abducted the 18-year-old Li was near the coastal area of Barangay Buayan, also in Kabasalan.

Li had been in Kabasalan for the past three months and owned and operated a store there,  Kabasalan Mayor George Cainglet said.

He said the Chinese national was tending his store when four unidentified men, brandishing high-powered firearms, arrived in a van Thursday night. The men overpowered the strore’s lone security guard and dragged the victim to their van and sped away.

Gucela said police  later found the burned getaway vehicle in Barangay Tumuay Danda, still in Kabasalan.

Basbas said the police found out  that Li came to the country on a tourist visa.

He said the kidnapped Chinese national arrived in the country in July 2011 – along with his parents. He opted to stay in Kabasalan while his parents live in Oroquieta City in Misamis Oriental.