Expat charged with kidnapping two Colombian women

National police arrested a 33-year-old U.S. citizen Tuesday afternoon, charging him with two counts of kidnapping.

Paramedics treated one of the abducted women.

The arrest followed the escape of one of two women who say they had been held hostage since Monday. Police say the victims, ages 20 and 21, were Colombian prostitutes who had been invited into the suspect’s apartment in Condominio El Ejido on Calle Luis Moreno Mora at Víctor León Vivar, in south Cuenca.

The women claim the man spiked their drinks with drugs and, when they tried to leave, were held hostage.

According to police, one of the woman escaped through a bedroom window onto the roof of an adjacent house and suffered minor injuries when she fell to the ground. She asked neighbors to call police.

Police say they recovered 200 grams of cocaine and marijuana from the suspect’s apartment. They did not release the suspect’s name.