The Kidnapping of Freddy Heineken

Beer executive Freddy Heineken and his driver Ab Doderer were kidnapped in Amsterdam in 1983 and held for three weeks until a record ransom was paid.

A meticulously planned abduction

On 9 November 1983, Freddy Heineken and his driver Ab Doderer were kidnapped outside Heineken’s Amsterdam office. The group behind the crime had spent a long period preparing the abduction and built concealed cells in which to hold the hostages.

A record ransom

The kidnappers demanded 35 million Dutch guilders, an extraordinary sum at the time. After the ransom was paid, police located and freed Heineken and Doderer after roughly three weeks in captivity.

The manhunt

Members of the group fled across borders, producing lengthy extradition disputes. Cor van Hout, Willem Holleeder and other participants were eventually captured and served prison sentences.

From kidnapping to organized-crime history

The case became one of the Netherlands’ most famous kidnappings and later intersected with the country’s organized-crime history because several participants remained prominent figures in the criminal underworld. Part of the ransom was never recovered.