The victim of a violent abduction has been arrested and charged with firearms offences – on the same day a second man accused of his kidnapping was caught.
The kidnapped man's charges come after police found six guns and thousands of illegal cigarettes during raids at two properties in Sydney's west.
The 53-year-old man was allegedly punched and kicked before being forced into a car by four balaclava-clad strangers about sunrise in northern Sydney on February 24.
He was allegedly held hostage in Dural – a suburb on Sydney's bushy northern outskirts that recently made headlines over another kidnapping – for more than 48 hours before his rescue by tactical police during a raid.
The hostage was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
A 16-year-old boy was arrested at the scene, while a 20-year-old man was arrested in Penrith on Wednesday, and charged him with offences including participating in criminal activity and breaching bail.
Police allege the man was among the group of alleged kidnappers who abducted the 53-year-old from a Mount Pritchard tobacconist.
The 20-year-old was refused bail and is due to appear in court on Thursday.
But the 53-year-old's woes continued on Wednesday, when police raided the Mount Pritchard tobacco shop and another address in North Parramatta.
There, they allegedly found six firearms, 39,000 illicit cigarettes and firearms parts.
He was charged with five counts of possessing an unauthorised pistol and a range of other gun offences. He was refused bail and is due to appear in Fairfield Local Court later on Thursday.
The kidnapping came days after police found the body of elderly widower Chris Baghsarian, who was abducted from his Sydney home in a case of mistaken identity on February 13.
Investigators believe Baghsarian was killed at a makeshift stronghold in Dural before his body was dumped on the night of February 14, a half-hour drive away in Pitt Town.
Two people have been charged over the alleged kidnapping and murder of the grandfather.
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