The kidnapping of the son of Manchester businessman and aspiring politician Paul Lyn has pushed some of the island's rich into defensive mode amid reports that other families with financial clout were being targeted by criminals wanting to make big money from ransom.

Members of five Jamaican families interviewed by the Sunday Observer all said that they had already started the process of applying sharper protection for their families in the face of 17 reported kidnappings here since January 1, according to police statistics. All declined to be identified, obviously not wanting to be placed in the spotlight.

"I don't know about anybody else, but my family is dear to me and I will spend every cent to ensure that they are protected," said one of Jamaica's leading manufacturers, who lives in the capital city.

The abduction of 12-year-old Lyn forced his family to fork out $4 million in ransom payment to the kidnappers whom a high-ranking police source described as being "very smooth and very well-organised with an obviously fledgling business".

The boy was grabbed on his way to school by men who travelled in two vehicles Wednesday morning and taken to a still undetermined location. He was released after the money was dropped off along a section of a Central Jamaica highway late Thursday night.

The boy was left close to a food outlet in the Clarendon capital of May Pen around 12:30 Friday morning, police confirmed. He was not harmed.

Paul Lyn ran unsuccessfully for the People's National Party against Finance and the Public Service Minister Audley Shaw in Manchester North East during the 2007 general election.

The kidnapping is almost certain to put his family and himself under more pressure as the action comes close to the third anniversary of the kidnapping of his relatives, elderly couple Richard and Julia Lyn, on December 10, 2006 from their residence in Manchester. Their decomposed bodies were later found in a dump in the parish.

Elderly couple Richard and Julia Lyn were kidnapped on December 10, 2006 from their residence in Manchester

The men who were charged with their murder will appear in the Home Circuit Court tomorrow.

Close friend of the Lyns, attorney-at-law K Churchill Neita, is urging Jamaicans to be more alert and aware now than before.

"People definitely have to be more alert. The kidnappers seem to be targeting people who are paralysed with fear," said Neita. "They target the most vulnerable and that includes the children, who will hardly put up a fight, or take note of a licence plate or pay attention to other details.

"The whole society has reached a stage where we have to be more on our Ps and Qs, because of the state of the economy and the inability of the Government to address the problems. We all have to be more vigilant," Neita added.

Since the young Lyn's kidnapping, reports have surfaced that the kidnappers had mentioned in telephone conversations with negotiators that there was a list that contained the names of prominent Jamaicans who would also be targeted.

"This thing is really getting serious and it appears that our local police don't have an answer to it," a leading western Jamaica businesswoman said.

"Families like ours, who are thought to be rich, are really at the mercy of these people. I have been talking to my husband and he is convinced, just as I was when I heard of this incident, that we should hire private security personnel to ensure that at least our two high school children have some amount of protection," said the woman.

"This may be too bad for the children, who may not get much breathing space and their friends may be turned off, but it seems like that is what we have to resort to, until the people who swore to protect and serve us can do just that," the businesswoman said, in obvious reference to the police.

Last week's kidnapping was not the first in Central Jamaica since the year began. There have been four others. While the organised crime division of the constabulary continues to operate with sealed lips regarding details about the Lyn kidnapping, two senior operatives of the police force, who spoke with the Sunday Observer on condition that their names do not appear in print, said that it was difficult to stop what seems to be an increasing trend in kidnappings.

One admitted that the police did not have enough training and resources within its ranks.

"Our men and women in the force are not exposed to enough training in kidnapping situations," said the senior cop. "But that is one issue. Even if they are trained sufficiently, they cannot prevent kidnappings. People will have to be more proactive and not expose themselves to unnecessary risks."

Kidnappings are frequent in the south Caribbean island of Trinidad & Tobago, raising speculation of a connection to the Lyn abduction.

However, the other senior police officer who spoke with this newspaper, while not ruling out a relationship with the twin-island republic, suggested that there could be a broader link.

"This thing is obviously big business," he said. "Our police personnel will have to be extra smart to stop what appears on the surface to be a well-orchestrated plan that, in my opinion, has far-reaching links that go beyond the Caribbean. Based upon what I have noticed, I would not be surprised if there is a Mexican connection here too, because some of the kidnappings in Jamaica pan out just like some of those in Mexico, as also, in Mexico, there has been a lot of kidnapping of children because they are physically easier to manage and parents seem more concerned about paying for them quicker than they would find the money to release adults who have been kidnapped."

Meanwhile, other members of other families whose asset base by their own reckoning surpasses $250 million, are resorting to means that they did not want to disclose.

"We are taking the necessary measures to ensure that we are safe. You cannot ask us to tell you what those measures are. It would not be wise," said the head of the household of a prominent Indian family involved in the import and export business.

Still another businessman from Central Jamaica, who has a range of business enterprises, said that while he saw the need to make sure that his family had protection, it was important that other families do not panic, what with increased or newly introduced security measures.

"You don't want a situation whereby your children get the feeling that they are like the children of the president of the United States, where there is security all over the place," he said. "Children need to have their space too, so we have to be careful how we go about changing our lives all at one go. There must be an education programme in place to alert children, and women in particular, about the possibilities of kidnapping."