A woman who was abducted last week returned to her home in Hoofddorp on Sunday evening unhurt, police have said.

Police believe the woman (49), who disappeared on her way to work in Beverwijk on Wednesday, was used as a pawn in a conflict between international drugs gangs. According to the AD the dispute concerned a missing consignment of cocaine.

A large-scale police operation was started immediately following the abduction, involving assistance from several other countries.

Six men aged 17 to 37 have been arrested in connection with the case. One comes from Belgium and the rest were picked up in the Netherlands.

Police have not said where the woman was being held and how she found her way back to her home “in the interests of the investigation”.

According to the AD, the police had been busy investigating threats against the woman and another family for over a month before she disappeared.