Ammon News - A British businessman and the former UK honorary consul in Guayaquil, Colin Armstrong, has been kidnapped by hooded men at his home in Ecuador’s Los Rios province, according to police reports.

Armstrong, 78, was snatched in the early hours of Saturday alongside a Colombian woman identified as his partner Katherine Paola Santos from his home in the town of Baba, according to a police report seen by the Guardian. He was driven away in his own black BMW, which was later found dumped, the report said.

The Ecuadorian police said in a tweet on X: “Following an apparent criminal act against a businessman in the early hours of this morning in Los Rios, specialist police units are carrying out operative and investigative work on the ground.”

Armstrong, the founder and owner of Agripac, a large agricultural products company in Ecuador, left the role of honorary consul in 2016 and was replaced by his son Nicolas. He is also the owner of the 500 acre (202 hectare) Tupgill Park Estate in North Yorkshire, which was his childhood home. He was awarded an OBE and CMG in 2011.

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are in contact with the Ecuadorian authorities following the disappearance of a British man and are supporting his family.”

The Guardian