AWDC, Antwerp Police Launching Anti-Tiger Kidnapping Program

(IDEX Online News) – The AWDC Security Office, together with the Antwerp police, is launching an 'Integrated Anti-Tiger Kidnapping Program,' created for Antwerp diamond district companies.

The main objective of the program is to explain and help to prevent and the reaction to a so-called Tiger Kidnapping in progress. The event will take place on June 27 at Diamantclub Antwerpen, the Antwerp Diamond Club.

A tiger kidnapping, or tiger robbery, involves two separate crimes. The first crime usually involves an abduction of a person. Instead of demanding money, the captors demand that a second crime be committed on their behalf, such as a theft. The person held hostage is kept by the captors until their demands are met.

There have been a number of crimes in Antwerp where criminals have taken members of the families of diamantaires hostage and demanded that the company owner or employee go to the office and bring back diamonds or cash.

The AWDC program includes an introduction and the importance of residential security by Cathy Berx, Governor of the Province of Antwerp.

Antwerp Mayor Bart De Wever will give a presentation on Antwerp structural cooperation between the city of Antwerp, its police and the AWDC security team.

He will be followed by Serge Muyters, the head of Antwerp's police, who will speak on procedure in cases of tiger kidnappings, while the final speaker will be AWDC CEO Ari Epstein who will speak on the issues of the AWDC Security Office, coordination, security awareness and recommendations to diamantaires.