The kidnapping of Wenbo Jin: Why international students are being held for ransom

On January 21 2020, Wenbo Jin woke up just after 4 a.m. to the sounds of two men ransacking his apartment. The 24-year-old had left his home in China to study statistics at the University of Toronto. That night, Wenbo lay there, terrified, as his dream of higher education in Canada turned into a nightmare at the hands of criminals with a diabolical scheme. 

This week on Crime Story, journalist Simon Lewsen takes us inside Wenbo Jin’s apartment and reveals the surprising reason kidnappers are targeting international students. 

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