Suspects arrested in Uganda kidnapping of US tourist

Authorities said Tuesday that arrests have been made in the abduction of a US tourist and a local guide in Uganda.

The suspects busted in connection to the kidnapping of Kimberly Sue Endicott of California and guide Jean Paul Mirenge Remezo were being interrogated by police on Tuesday, CBS News reported.

Uganda did not specify how many suspects have been arrested, but CBS News reported that four men were in custody while a fifth suspect remained on the lam.

Sources told the news outlet that the accusers are believed to be illegal fish traders and ivory smugglers.

“The joint security team actively investigating the kidnapping incident…has made some arrests of suspects, on suspicion of being involved,” Ugandan police said in a statement Tuesday.

Ugandan police were able to track down the men – who were not identified – with the help of up to 19 FBI agents from the US who provided surveillance equipment, CBS News reported.

The suspects were nabbed during “raids and extensive searches” in the Kanungu district.

Endicott and Remezo were kidnapped on April 2 while on safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park more than 200 miles west of the capital of Kampala.

The two were held hostage for five days by armed captors who demanded $500,000 for their release.

Both Endicott and Remezo were freed Sunday in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo after the tour company overseeing the safari paid a ransom.

“Whatever these people [kidnappers] demanded for was paid,” junior tourism minister of Uganda Godfrey Kiwanda Ssubi told NBS TV Tuesday.

“The money had to be taken…everything was done to save the lives of these people.”

Endicott and Remezo were forced to walk across the border from Uganda into the Democratic Republic of Congo where they spent most of their time held hostage, according to CBS News.

President Trump in a tweet on Monday had urged Uganda to find the kidnappers and “bring them to justice openly and quickly.”

With Post Wires