A butcher from northern Greece was charged yesterday with last week’s kidnapping of a livestock breeder on the island of Thasos.

Athanassios Makedos, a 26-year-old father of two, was abducted at gunpoint on Thursday from his sheepfold near Limenaria on the northern Aegean island. Shortly afterward, his family received a 500,000-euro ransom demand over the phone. But Makedos managed to escape his captors the same day, having knocked out the gang member left to guard him.

On Saturday, police arrested Kavala butcher Christos Baxevanis, 46, after Makedos said one of his abductors resembled him in build and voice. Baxevanis was known to the Makedos family, which he had approached a fortnight ago to ask for a 44,000-euro loan, a request that was rejected.

Police said Baxevanis confessed under interrogation to organizing the abduction, claiming to have been in dire financial straits, but refused to name the other two or three people — including a woman — believed to have taken part in the kidnapping.