Kidnapped millionaire British diplomat, 78, is pictured enjoying the high life with his glamorous Colombian girlfriend prior to being abducted in Ecuador

A millionaire businessman and British honorary consul abducted by gangsters in Ecuador at the weekend had been enjoying the high life with his glamorous Columbian girlfriend in recent weeks according to images posted on TikTok.

They show wealthy businessman Colin Armstrong, 78, and partner Katherine Paola Santos enjoying a jet-set lifestyle prior to their kidnapping on Saturday.

A montage of images was posted by a local news organisation after the couple were abducted in Ecuador.

The couple appear together on a safari holiday as well as on board a cruise ship and beneath the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles.

There are also images of the smiling couple on horseback and posing in front of Egyptian pyramids.

Fears were growing for the wealthy businessman after he was snatched by up to 15 masked men reportedly disguised as police officers before being driven away in their black BMW which was later found abandoned by the roadside. 

Local cops today confirmed Mr Armstrong had been kidnapped, which comes amid a sharp rise in drug-related violence in parts of Ecuador. 

Chilling footage posted online show the abductors left a blood-stained trail behind after ransacking Mr Armstrong’s remote ranch in the province of Los Rios.

It has not been reported that a ransom has been demanded and Mr Armstrong’s fate remains unknown.

Colin Armstrong, 78, and partner Katherine Paola Santos are pictured together in Jamaica

Colin Armstrong, 78, and partner Katherine Paola Santos are pictured together 

The couple appear together on a safari holiday in this picture before their reported abduction 

Mr Armstrong, who headed the British Consulate in the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil, is pictured on a safari before his abduction 

Mr Armstrong headed the British Consulate in the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil and has been honoured by the late Queen for his services to his country.

Video reportedly taken inside the property known as Rancho Rodeo Grande shows the aftermath of the attack.

The kidnap is said to have happened in the early hours on Saturday morning.

A bomb threat reportedly linked to the kidnapping was later reported nearby.

A message from the police on X, the former Twitter, said officers were carrying out ‘operational and investigative work’ in connection with the case.

The UK’s Foreign and Development Office has confirmed it is in contact with Ecuadorian authorities following the disappearance of a British man, but did not confirm his identity.

Mr Armstrong owns the 500 acre Tupgill Park Estate in North Yorkshire, which was his childhood home.

The estate now welcomes more than 150,000 visitors a year to an attraction known as the Forgotten Corner which was originally built as a private folly.

Mr Armstrong – who is thought to have previously been married to an Ecuadorian woman – has had a long association with the South America country where he owns Agripac, a large agricultural supply company which he founded in 1972.

He works there alongside son Nick, who took over the honorary consul role in the city of Guayaquil from his father in 2016 and is also a director of the company which runs Ripon Racecourse in North Yorkshire.

Pictures on TikTok show wealthy businessman Colin Armstrong, 78, and partner Katherine Paola Santos enjoying a jet-set lifestyle prior to their kidnapping on Saturday

The couple appear together beneath the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles

Pictures on TikTok show wealthy businessman Colin Armstrong, 78, and partner Katherine Paola Santos enjoying a jet-set lifestyle prior to their kidnapping on Saturday

There are also images of the smiling couple on horseback and posing in front of Egyptian pyramids (pictured) 

Mr Armstrong is also believed to have two daughters including one who works as an upmarket estate agent in California.

His adopted son Leo Morris helps run a restaurant at the family’s Yorkshire estate.

Mr Armstrong was awarded an OBE and CMG by the late Queen in 2011.

Footage purporting to show the aftermath of the kidnap went online shortly after it happened.

A woman filming inside the ranch took close-up shots of broken plates on the floor and a man holding his head.

She then walked into one of the bedrooms where there was blood on the bedsheets and the floor.

As she focused in on the stained sheets, she is reported to have said: ‘This is where they hit him. My God what is this!’

The honorary consul’s car, a black BMW the kidnap victims are said to have been driven away in, has reportedly been found abandoned on the road between Baba and the nearby town of Salitre.

The kidnap is understood to have happened around 2.45am local time on Saturday morning at Mr Armstrong’s ranch called Rancho Rodeo Grande.

Mr Armstrong headed the British Consulate in the Ecuadorian port city of Guayaquil and has been honoured by the late Queen for his services to his country

British businessman Colin Armstrong and his girlfriend are pictured together before their reported kidnapped from their home in Ecuador

Pictures on TikTok show wealthy businessman Colin Armstrong, 78, and partner Katherine Paola Santos enjoying a jet-set lifestyle prior to their kidnapping on Saturday

Pictures on TikTok show wealthy businessman Colin Armstrong, 78, and partner Katherine Paola Santos enjoying a jet-set lifestyle prior to their kidnapping on Saturday

In recent years Ecuador – situated between world-leading cocaine producers Colombia and Peru – has become a centre for foreign and domestic drug cartels blamed for a series of massacres, kidnappings and extortions.

Gangs now control prisons and violence in the streets has surged. Since 2018, the national murder rate has more than quadrupled, soaring from six to 26 per 100,000 inhabitants.

As a large port city, Guayaquil has become a centre for the cartels exporting drugs to the United States and Europe.

President Daniel Noboa, a Guayaquil native who took office in late November, has promised to crack down on drug traffickers.

His election followed a violence-marred campaign season in which eight politicians, including a mayor, were killed.