Police rescue kidnapped Chinese student with Burnaby takedown

Police in Metro Vancouver say they rescued an 18-year-old Chinese student, who was kidnappedon the weekend,in a dramatic early morning takedown.

"Members of the VPD executed numerous takedowns on multiple vehicles and the hostage was rescued uninjured," Deputy Chief Doug Lepard said in a news release.

Five men werearrested after officers stoppedat least threevehicles early Thursday morning.

The arrests were made at Fraser Street and Kingsway, in an underground lot on Kingsway and at Main Street and SE Marine Drive in Vancouver. No injuries were reported.

"Reports of shots fired in the area were the result of 'flash-bang' grenades, being used during the rescue by Emergency Response Team members, which give off a loud noise," said Lepard.

Kidnapped in the West End

The Chinese studentwas kidnapped from his residencein Vancouver's West End on Feb. 15.

Vancouver police said they were notified about the kidnapping by one of his family members, who calledfromChina to report that they had been contacted to pay a large ransom.

Officersthen set up surveillance and wiretapped phones at several Burnaby homes, which they thought might be connected to the case.

On Thursday morning around 5 a.m. PT, officersconducting surveillancenoticed a vehicle leaving one of the residences with three men, including one who had been identified as a possible suspect in the kidnapping.

Around 7:25 a.m., police stopped a vehicle near the Metrotown shopping centre using specialgrenades to incapacitate the occupants and rescued the teen.

Investigation taxed resources

"The investigation is still very active and more arrests may be made and several search warrants will be executed," said Lepard.

The police department said the investigation taxedresources to the limit, because of several simultaneous investigations into "an unprecedented wave of gang shootings in the region, and our efforts to curb that violence."

The kidnapping investigation was led by Insp. Les Yeo, who was the team commanderduring thehigh-profile kidnapping and rescue of Graham McMynn in the spring of 2006.