Ecuador police rescue kidnapped British businessman Colin Armstrong

Dec. 20 (UPI) -- British businessman Colin Armstrong was rescued Wednesday after being abducted in Ecuador.

Ecuador Police said nine people were arrested in connection with his kidnapping.

"On the road to Manabi, our units RELEASED citizen Collin A., kidnapped days before in Los Rios. At the moment he is safe and healthy," Ecuador Police Chief Gen. Cesar Augusto Zapata Correa wrote on X.

Armstrong, president of Agripac in Ecuador, was taken Saturday along with his Colombian partner Katherine Paola Santos from his home in the town of Baba.

Police made no mention regarding the fate of Santos.

British Ambassador to Ecuador Chris Campbell hailed Armstrong's release on social media.

"We are delighted that Colin Armstrong OBE, our former honorary consul in Guayaquil, has been safely released," Campbell wrote.

Armstrong's voluntary honorary consul role in Ecuador's largest city was to assist British nationals and support British interests in the country. He left that role in 2016.

Agripac is large agricultural products company in Ecuador.

Armstrong's BMW was used by the kidnappers to drive him away and the vehicle was then abandoned.

Ecuador Interior Minister Monica Palencia thanked Ecuador Police and its units for rescuing Armstrong.

"We will not allow impunity. Police actions continue," Palencia said.

Ecuador has experienced a surge in violence, driven by both the drug trade and economic hardship in the country prompting President Daniel Noboa to promise a crackdown.

Ecuador presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated in August, leading Pope Francis to condemn 'unjustifiable violence' in Ecuador.

The six accused hitmen in that candidate assassination were found dead in their prison cells in October. They had previously requested a transfer out of the notorious Guayaquil prison, but the request was denied.