British intelligence is cooperating in the search for former consul Colin Armstrong, British media reported

British intelligence services are assisting the Ecuadorian police in the search for Colin Armstrongformer Consul of the United Kingdom in GuayaquilWho was kidnapped in the early hours of Saturday, December 16as reported by English media Telegraph.

Armstrong, 78, was violently taken from his farm in Papa Canton, Los Rios province, along with a companion. It has been more than 72 hours since his whereabouts became unknown.

Based on reports, The crime included about fifteen men who put the British businessman inside his carwhich was later abandoned on Papa Saliter Road.

He added that British intelligence officers are participating in the investigation Telegraph A source in the Ecuadorian security forces.

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They were told: “Your role is more advisory than practical at the present time.” The British newspaper reported that investigators suspect that the organized crime group Los Tijerones is behind this crime, after Armstrong refused to be blackmailed for protection.

Their source told them they were also investigating Armstrong’s accomplice, Katherine Paula Santos, for her alleged links to the crime committed.

“But this is more routine than anything else at the moment,” they were told. “We have to keep an open mind.”

Read also: Guayaquil: Police chase and shooting to rescue a kidnapped citizen

Colin Armstrong served as the UK’s Honorary Consul in Guayaquil, until his son Nick Armstrong took over in 2017.

Armstrong, who was awarded an OBE in 2011, is the founder and owner of an agricultural company, Agripac, and Owner of land of more than 500 acres In the English county of North Yorkshire.