A BRITISH businessman has reportedly been kidnapped in Ecuador after 15 criminals allegedly ransacked his estate.
Colin Armstrong, 78, is understood to have been snatched in the early hours of Saturday at his ranch in Baba, Los Rios province.
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Colin Armstrong was reportedly snatched in the early hours of Saturday in Ecuador Credit: Tupgill Park Estate
Mr Armstrong - who is also head of the British Consulate in the city of Guayaquil - was held with a Colombian woman.
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She is believed to be his wife and named locally as Katherine Paola Santos.
Police are investigating the kidnap at Rancho Rodeo Grande, thought to have taken place at around 2.45am local time.
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The attackers are believed to have driven the pair away in Mr Armstrong's black BMW, reportedly found abandoned nearby.
One unconfirmed local report said the raiders were wearing police uniforms as disguises.
A video said to be circulating on social media shows the aftermath of the raid with signs of a forced entry, along with traces of blood and ransacked rooms.
A woman filming inside takes close-up shots of broken plates on the floor and a man who appeared to be holding a bandage to his head.
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She then walks into one of the bedrooms where blood covers the bed before saying: “This is where they hit him. My God what is this!!!”
The Foreign Office said they were in contact with authorities in the South American nation following the disappearance of a British man.
They did not confirm his identity or the location of the potential crime.
A spokesman for Ecuadorian police said: “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.”
Mr Armstrong is the founder of a large firm in Ecuador called Agripac that produces, distributes and sells agricultural and industrial supplies.
He is also the owner of Tupgill Park Estate in North Yorkshire, which was his childhood home.
It features a famous labyrinth of tunnels, chambers and follies known as Forbidden Corner, which claims to be "the strangest place in the world".
The 78-year-old was awarded an OBE and CMG for services to the Royal Family in 2011.