Severing Fingers and Removing Teeth: Inside  Sydney’s Spike in Kidnapping

NSW Police say there have been at least six kidnappings around Sydney in the last year linked to gang activity.  

The crimes involve horrendous mutilations, including the loss of fingers, toes…even teeth.  

Click the link below and listen the full episode:

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2022, there were a total of 453 kidnappings in New South Wales, 27 of whom were children under nine years old.  

What has happened to Sydney? What is Sydne’s crime history? Are the general public exposed to the risks of being kidnapped? 

In today’s episode of THIS ARVO IN SYDNEY, host Sacha Barbour Gatt spoke to the crime editor for The Daily Telegraph, Mark Morri, to dive into what has been happening. 

Mr Morri says people who crime gangs kidnap are usually involved (actually or allegedly) in criminal activities themselves. 

In describing one of the kidnapping stories he reported, Mr Morris said:

A young man was kidnapped and it was about his roommate, who they were really after to try and get information, but they held him for five days.” 

Detailing the circumstances surrounding the young man’s abduction, he added:

Feeding KFC before they pulled his teeth out.”  

He said out of six people who were abducted, five of them had their fingers or toes mutilated at least, if not removed. 

I’ve been around 40 years, and I’ve never seen this level of violence… It’s totally new…In some cases, the crew that does the kidnapping, drops them at a location and babysits them until the torture crew comes,”

he said.

Mr Morri said that criminals would send the photos to either associates or family, demanding a large amount of ransom.  

When Mr Morri interviewed NSW Police, the police told him that the rise in brutality in these kidnappings was unprecedented. However, there is no risk for the general public to experience this level of violence he said.

Hosted by Sacha Barbour, This Arvo in Sydney is a 10 to 12 minute daily news podcast made just for Sydney! Listen now on the Listnr app.