Ali Omar Ader is currently sitting in a Canadian prison after being sentenced in 2018 for his role in the brutal 2008 kidnapping of Canadian freelance journalist Amanda Lindhout.

But the story of how Canadian authorities found and trapped this kidnapper through an international sting operation sounds more like a dramatic Hollywood screenplay than a real-life investigation.

“We always refer to this operation as the Hail Mary play,” said an investigator with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who asked to remain anonymous as he continues to work undercover. “We didn't think it would work. And as it was continuing… we were surprised ourselves.”

The investigator shared exclusive new details about a dramatic sting operation for the first time with Kate Snow for “Dateline.”

Lindhout was working as freelance journalist in Mogadishu when she was kidnapped by a group of young Somali men. They held her captive for 460 days, during which time they raped, assaulted and tortured her. One of the few who spoke English called himself “Adam.” His real name was Ali Omar Ader.

Watch the full "Dateline" episode here.

During Lindhout’s time in captivity, Ader contacted her mother, Lorinda Stewart, in Canada to demand a ransom payment. For months, Stewart engaged in terrifying and excruciating negotiations with him before she was able to secure her daughter’s release.

“I would not be here now if it was not for my mother,” Lindhout told “Dateline.” “My mom gave me life and she saved my life.”

Lindhout returned to Canada. She wrote a book called “A House in the Sky” and told her dramatic story in an episode of “Dateline.”

Amanda Lindhout and her mother Lorinda Stewart

But that was not the end of the story.

In the months after her release from captivity, Lindhout received a message on Facebook out of the blue. It read simply “Hello.” It was from the kidnapper she knew as Adam.

“It was so scary that he could find me, even though I was safe and across the world and was at home,” she said.

Lindhout called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police right away, starting what would become a dramatic operation to bring the man to justice.

The investigator with the Canadian police reached out to Ader, posing as a media consultant for Lindhout’s family. The two men then spent the next several years talking and e-mailing, with Ader eventually revealing that he was well educated and he dreamed of writing a book about the history of Somalia.

“That's our in,” the investigator recalled thinking, adding that their ultimate goal was to bring the man to justice.

“It totally fits in line with what I knew of this man,” Lindhout said. “He struck me as the kind of guy whose ego was so big… of course, if somebody told him he's capable of writing a book, he would think that.”

The investigator convinced him to meet in person in Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean off of Africa’s east coast, to sign a book deal.

Of course, it was all phony — but Adam didn’t know that. He also didn’t realize that the contract had a trap buried in it, a disclosure paragraph to encourage Ader to reveal details about his past, including the kidnapping of Lindhout.

Somali national Ali Omar Ader is seen in an undated photo from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

It worked, and Ader confessed to his participation in the kidnapping.

“In my head I was dancing. It was amazing. You couldn’t ask for better evidence,” the investigator said.

But that still wasn’t enough to bring the man to justice.

Authorities in Mauritius would not allow investigators to videotape the operation, so the Royal Canadian Mounted Police created a means to lure him all the way to Canada.

Using another ruse related to the fake book deal, and a series of convoluted flights, the investigator was able to get Ader to a hotel in Ottawa. There, he confessed to his past — all while hidden video cameras were rolling.

And when Ader and the investigator walked out of the room, they were both arrested.

“They handcuffed us both, led us off in different directions,” said the investigator, who remained undercover during the apprehension. “I went for a beer. He went to jail.”

In the end, Adam was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The international operation to capture him had taken more than five years.

When asked if bringing Lindhout’s kidnapper to justice was worth all that time and effort, the investigator doesn’t hesitate in his answer: “Absolutely.”

转载自NBCNews

中文翻译：

阿里·奥马尔·阿德尔（Ali Omar Ader）因在2008年残忍绑架加拿大自由记者阿曼达·林德豪特（Amanda Lindhout）的案件中所扮演的角色而于2018年被判刑，目前他正在加拿大的一所监狱中服刑。 但是，加拿大当局通过一次跨国诱捕行动找到并诱捕这名绑匪的故事，听起来更像是一部戏剧性的好莱坞剧本，而非一次真实的调查。 “我们总是把这次行动称为‘孤注一掷’（Hail Mary play），”一位加拿大皇家骑警的调查员说道。由于他仍在从事卧底工作，因此要求匿名。“我们当时觉得这事儿成不了。而当行动持续进行时……我们自己都感到惊讶。” 这位调查员首次向《日界线》（Dateline）栏目的凯特·斯诺（Kate Snow）分享了这次戏剧性诱捕行动的独家新细节。 林德豪特在摩加迪沙（Mogadishu）担任自由记者时，被一群年轻的索马里男子绑架。他们将她囚禁了460天，期间对她进行了强奸、攻击和折磨。其中少数会说英语的一人自称“亚当”（Adam），他的真名就是阿里·奥马尔·阿德尔。 （点击此处观看《日界线》完整节目） 在林德豪特被囚禁期间，阿德尔联系了她在加拿大的母亲洛林达·斯图尔特（Lorinda Stewart），索要赎金。在数月的时间里，斯图尔特与他进行了既恐怖又痛苦的谈判，最终确保了女儿的获释。 “如果不是我妈妈，我现在就不会在这里，”林德豪特告诉《日界线》。“我妈妈给了我生命，也拯救了我的生命。” 林德豪特返回了加拿大。她写了一本名为《空中之屋》（A House in the Sky）的书，并在《日界线》的一期节目中讲述了她戏剧性的经历。

阿曼达·林德豪特和她的母亲洛林达·斯图尔特

但故事并未就此结束。 在她获释后的几个月里，林德豪特突然在脸书（Facebook）上收到一条信息，上面只写着“你好”。信息来自那个她称之为“亚当”的绑匪。 “他能找到我，这太可怕了，尽管我已经安全地回到了世界的另一端，回到了家里，”她说。 林德豪特立即致电加拿大皇家骑警，由此开启了一项将此人绳之以法的戏剧性行动。 加拿大警方的调查员联系了阿德尔，冒充是林德豪特家族的媒体顾问。在接下来的几年里，两人通过电话和电子邮件进行交流，阿德尔最终透露自己受过良好教育，并梦想写一本关于索马里历史的书。 “这就是我们的突破口，”调查员回忆当时的想法时说，并补充道，他们的最终目标是将其绳之以法。 “这完全符合我对此人的了解，”林德豪特说。“他给我的印象就是那种自负到极点的人……当然，如果有人告诉他有能力写一本书，他肯定会信以为真。” 调查员说服他在印度洋非洲东海岸的岛国毛里求斯（Mauritius）见面，以签署一份图书出版合同。 当然，这一切都是假的——但亚当并不知道。他也没意识到，合同中暗藏了一个陷阱：一段信息披露条款，旨在引诱阿德尔透露有关他过去的细节，包括绑架林德豪特的事件。

索马里公民阿里·奥马尔·阿德尔在一张由加拿大皇家骑警提供的未注明日期的照片中

计策奏效了，阿德尔承认了他参与了绑架案。 “我当时在心里手舞足蹈。太棒了。你不可能要求比这更好的证据了，”调查员说。 但这仍然不足以将此人绳之以法。 毛里求斯当局不允许调查人员对行动进行录像，因此加拿大皇家骑警设计了一个方法，将他一路引诱到加拿大。 利用与虚假图书合同有关的另一个计策，以及一系列复杂的航班，调查员成功地将阿德尔带到了渥太华的一家酒店。在那里，他供述了自己的过去——而这一切都被隐藏的摄像机记录了下来。 当阿德尔和调查员走出房间时，他们两人同时被捕。 “他们给我们俩都戴上了手铐，把我们带往不同的方向，”这位在抓捕过程中仍保持卧底身份的调查员说。“我去喝了杯啤酒。他则进了监狱。” 最终，“亚当”被判有罪，并被判处15年监禁。这次跨国抓捕行动历时超过五年。 当被问及花费如此多的时间和精力将林德豪特的绑架者绳之以法是否值得时，这位调查员毫不犹豫地回答：“绝对值得。”