BREAKING: Simón Bolívar Horn Player Luis Castro, Kidnapped in Venezuela, Freed in a Police Raid

According to Venezuelan news outlet Últimas Noticias, musician Luis Castro--kidnapped on Monday in Venezuela--was freed in a police raid last night.

ArtsJournal's Norman Lebrecht said that Castro, a horn player in the Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, was travelling from Anzoategui province to Caracas when he was abducted.

Detectives of the Commission Against Extortion and Kidnapping (CICPC) traced the whereabouts of Castro. A police source said that the CICPC pressured the abductor group until they released the musician.

Castro is "safe and sound," a law enforcement official said. The abductor group is unknown, but the CICPC detectives suspect a gang operating in the axis of Barlovento.

Castro has been a member of the Simón Bolívar orchestra for 15 years. The orchestra began as Venezuela's national youth orchestra, but many of its members are now in their 20s.

Gustavo Dudamel, music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, has been the Simón Bolívar's music director since 1999.

So far, neither the orchestra nor Castro's family have commented on the case.