Pictured: London model Chloe Ayling who was kidnapped, drugged and auctioned for £230k in Italy returns home

Chloe Ayling, 20, was kidnapped and held captive for six days.
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Francesca Gillett8 August 2017

A south London model who was kidnapped in Italy and held captive for six days while her abductor auctioned her for £230,000 has reportedly returned to the UK.

Glamour model Chloe Ayling, 20, was snatched on July 11 by two men at an arranged photo shoot in Milan.

It is thought she was drugged and transported in a bag to an isolated village near Turin before being released on July 17, Italian police said.

Ms Ayling has now flown back to the UK and returned to her home in Coulsdon, south London, according to reports.

Speaking on her doorstep, she told how she had feared for her life throughout the "terrifying experience".

A Polish man, who lives in Britain, was arrested on July 18 on suspicion of kidnap and extortion, state police said.

Model Chloe Ayling was allegedly kidnapped in Italy by a sex slave gang
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Officials have released a mugshot of the suspect, named as 30-year-old Lukasz Pawel Herba.

It is alleged two men tried to sell Ms Ayling online for more than 300,000 dollars (£230,000) and demanded the model's agent pay to secure her safe release.

Milan: The inside of the house in Italy where police say the kidnapped British model was held.
Reuters

She was kept handcuffed to furniture but was freed after six days and taken to the British consulate in Milan, despite the ransom not being paid.

It has been reported the captor demanded £50,000 upon her release and threatened to kill her if she told police about the incident.

Milan police officer Lorenzo Bucossi told reporters the group the suspect was allegedly working for offered "mercenary services" on the dark web.

Polish man Pawel Lukasz Herba, who was arrested in Milan on suspicion of orchestrating the abduction of a British model.
AFP/Getty Images

According to a translation on Sky News, Mr Bucossi said: "Certainly the author of this very serious crime is a dangerous person, don't forget he was also ready to carry out a 'final solution', as he called it.

"He was a killer and was working for an organisation on the deep web that is offering mercenary services such as bombing attacks, kidnapping and the selling of girls on the dark web."

Italian police said they are working with officials in Britain and Poland as they continue to investigate.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said an address in Sampson Close in Oldbury was raided on July 18 in connection with the investigation.

The case has thrown the so-called “dark web” into the spotlight after it claimed the model was offered for sale on a clandestine network online.

The term refers to part of the internet that is only accessible using software which allows users to remain anonymous and untraceable.

Much of the dark web is an online black market where users can buy goods using digital currencies such as Bitcoin and trade in illegal items.

The National Crime Agency has said the use of the dark web "as an international market place for firearms, drugs and indecent images of children" is continuing to rise.

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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