LONDON, Nov 3: Detectives foiled a plot to kidnap Victoria Beckham, the pop star wife of England soccer captain David Beckham, and have arrested five people, police sources said Saturday.

Scotland Yard said armed officers arrested four men and one woman in London’s Docklands area and in Morden, in the south of the capital, on suspicion of theft and conspiracy to kidnap.

The arrests were made after information was passed to police by tabloid Sunday paper News of the World, whose reporters had infiltrated a gang of Romanians and Albanians.

“As a result of information from the News of the World, SO7 Kidnap Unit conducted an operation today to arrest a group of individuals who are suspected of having been involved in theft and a conspiracy to commit kidnap,” said Detective Chief Superintendent John Coles.

The five were being held at central London police stations.

“I’m in absolute and total shock,” Victoria Beckham, who shot to fame with the Spice Girls, told the newspaper.

“It’s clear these people were serious and that, of course, has scared the life out of me. It’s terrifying that someone would want to do that to you and your children,” she added.

Victoria has been the target of a kidnap scare before. The Beckhams hired a bodyguard after newspapers reported in Jan 2000 that police had uncovered a plan to snatch Victoria and her son Brooklyn and hold them for £1m ($1.6 m) ransom. No arrests were made.

Victoria was at Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground on Saturday afternoon to watch her husband and his team beat Southampton 2-1.—Reuters