The Global Advisor Kidnap & extortive crime | April 2025
Asia-Pacific
The increase in recorded cases over the first quarter in India is likely due to variations in the quality of media reporting rather than a deterioration in the country’s security environment over the longer term. A key contributor to the increase was a 100% uptick in the number of reported kidnaps in the eastern state of Odisha, largely driven by low-capability criminals targeting local businesspeople. Other major hotspots such as Maharashtra or Manipur recorded numbers slightly higher than the last quarter of 2024, though these numbers remained significantly lower than for the same period a year ago. Low-capability criminals who specialise in opportunistic kidnaps will remain the main perpetrators of kidnaps across all states. In the first quarter of 2025, Control Risks recorded a 28% decrease in the number of recorded incidents in Thailand compared with the last quarter of 2024. Despite this trend, a variety of perpetrator groups remained engaged in kidnapping, including both local gangs and international criminal groups. The Greater Bangkok region remained the national hotspot and accounted for a little under half of all incidents, while other provinces such as Chonburi and Phuket continued to record high numbers by national standards. Organised criminal groups that operate across multiple countries in South-east Asia remained present in Bangkok and focused on targeting perceivably wealthy victims, including foreign nationals. While reported kidnaps in Bangladesh in the first quarter of 2025 declined compared with the last quarter of 2024, the number of incidents in the Chittagong division increased by 66% over the two quarters. Although Bangladesh accounted for fewer than 8% of all recorded incidents in the Asia-Pacific region over Q4
2024, major urban centres in Dhaka, Rajshahi and Chittagong divisions frequently record incidents. Financially motivated, local criminal gangs in the Eastern division routinely targeted employees of companies across a wide range of sectors, especially those with accessible workplaces. Control Risks identified a 50% increase in the number of reported kidnaps in the Philippines between January and March, compared with the last quarter of 2024. In the Manila metropolitan area, Control Risks recorded multiple incidents in which high-capability gangs with ties to larger transnational criminal groups targeted high income-individuals. Foreign nationals are the most commonly targeted victim demographic accounting for more than 80% of the victims during the first quarter of 2025. Most of these victims are
expatriates and business travellers from China and other countries in South-east Asia. 72 % of abductions happened in transit/outdoors 94 % of abductions resolved in less than 8 days 18 sectors affected
Key developments January to March 2025
The first quarter of 2025 marked a shift in the threat environment in India as the number of recorded cases increased following a sustained decline over the last two quarters of 2024. Kidnap threats in Thailand persisted despite a relative downturn in incidents. Despite not recording major changes in the number of recorded kidnaps at the
national level in Bangladesh , the Chittagong division witnessed a
significant uptick during the first quarter. The number of confirmed kidnaps in the Philippines increased after a slight decline during Q4 2024.
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