A British model who was kidnapped, drugged, stuffed into a suitcase and held captive for six days as she was auctioned on the dark web as a sex slave was taken on a shopping trip for shoes by her abductor, MailOnline can reveal.

Chloe Ayling had also previously met her kidnapper, Polish odd-job man Lukasz Herba, during a business trip to Paris earlier this year, a friend has revealed.

Herba, 30, later paid her agent cash for the 20-year-old model to fly out to Milan for the fake photo-shoot where she was injected with horse-tranquilizer ketamine, forced into a suitcase and chained to furniture for six days.

She was finally released on July 15 when Herba accompanied her to the British consulate in Milan after claiming the Black Death white slavery gang had kidnapped her by mistake because she was a mother.

Questions: British model Chloe Ayling from Surrey who says she was kidnapped, drugged, stuffed into a suitcase and held captive for six days as she was auctioned on the dark web as a sex slave was taken on a shopping trip for shoes by her abductor, MailOnline can reveal

Kidnap plot: Police in Italy say Lukasz Herba , pictured, 'kidnapped and tried to sell a British model on the dark web for £270,000'. It has emerged that Ms Ayling knew her abductor as she had met him previously during a photo shoot in Paris in April

Ordeal: Ms Ayling was finally released on July 15 when Herba accompanied her to the British consulate in Milan after claiming the Black Death white slavery gang had kidnapped her by mistake because she was a mother

Shopping: Ms Ayling's alleged abductor took the mother of one on a trip to buy shoes in Milan, pictured, during her six-day ordeal, prompting Italian press to raise questions

A close friend of Miss Ayling told MailOnline: 'I can't say too much because Chloe is being debriefed by British police and the Foreign Office, but she did know the man who kidnapped her.

'She met him in April on a photo shoot she had been on in Paris.

'He then called her agency and booked her for the photo shoot in Milan. He specifically asked for her.

'He seemed genuine. He sent previous examples of his work and paid in advance.'

The source added: 'During the kidnapping Chloe lost her shoes. He took her to buy some new ones during her ordeal.'

It is thought that she was bundled into a car and taken to an abandoned industrial unit, where her kidnapper attempted to sell her on the dark web

Miss Ayling is said to have met Herba after she was caught up in a terrorist shooting of a policeman in Paris in April.

The young British model told how she was walking along the Champs-Elysee when the incident unfolded.

She watched as police and ambulances rushed to the scene before she retreated to her hotel, her agent Phil Green said at the time.

Miss Ayling's mysterious shopping trip, her previous encounter with her abductor Herba and other strange details of the case led the Italian media to raise questions about about the Briton's testimony.

Auction: An image supposedly uploaded to the dark web by Black Death to go with the advert selling Ms Ayling as a sex slave to the highest bidder. The picture is believed to be a scene from a pornographic film

The Italian press have questioned why kidnapper Herba - a Polish national who lives in Oldbury, West Midlands - would accompany Miss Ayling into the British consulate in Milan.

Ms Ayling told detectives there were four or five kidnappers but only two alleged kidnappers are currently under investigation.

Questions have also been raised about how ketamine was injected into Ms Ayling's right arm when she was wearing a long sleeved, pink leather jacket.

Leading national newspaper La Repubblica claimed Miss Ayling burst into tears when police investigators asked her about the shoe-shop trip.

The newspaper reported today: 'That the kidnapping was real or that she was doped with ketamine is not put into question by the investigators.

'But it is also tremendously true that many details do not add up.

'Starting with a question that the police investigators suddenly asked Chloe, causing her to cry, 'But don't you think it is strange to go and buy shoes with your kidnapper?

'Because that also happened and, of course, the shop assistant, identified by the cops, recognized her, and recognized the person she calls MD [Herba].'

Italian press agency AGI highlighted other aspects of Ms Ayling's testimony.

It reported today: 'She tells [police there were] at least five kidnappers, but the investigators [believe there] are only Herba and his brother.

Leading national newspaper La Repubblica claimed Miss Ayling burst into tears when police investigators asked her about the shoe-shop trip

'The kidnappers make 'an injection into the right forearm', even though she is wearing a 'long-sleeved, pink, leather jacket'.

'Herba gives her a business card with a contact email address to contact for information and that she should have the mass media [to] advertise [to] Black Death.'

Miss Ayling left her home in Coulsdon, south London, today, to meet police and Foreign Office officials, according to her agent Phil Green.

Meanwhile, a man from Birmingham claims he was handed a 'business' card by Herba, featuring a picture of the grim reaper and the words 'Permanent Solution'.

An email address on the back references the letters 'MD' - what Miss Ayling allegedly was ordered to call her captor.

The card was reportedly given to a man in Birmingham city centre offering 'dark web services, according to The Sun.

Back in the UK yesterday after she was freed by the group, the mother of one said: ‘I’ve been through a terrifying experience. I’ve feared for my life, second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour.’

The Italian press has questioned why alleged kidnapper Herba would accompany Miss Ayling into the British consulate in Milan. Questions have also been raised as to how Ms Ayling's right arm was injected with ketamin when she was wearing a pink leather jacket

She added: ‘A person wearing black gloves came from behind and put one hand on my neck and one on my mouth to stop me from screaming.

‘A second person wearing a black balaclava gave me an injection in my right forearm.’

Her official statement said: ‘I think I lost consciousness. When I woke up I was wearing a pink bodysuit and the socks I am wearing now.

‘I realised I was in the boot of a car with my wrists and ankles handcuffed, adhesive tape on my mouth.

‘I was inside a bag and was only able to breathe through a small hole.’ The model said the gang were forced to stop the hatchback every 45 minutes because of her ‘continuous moans and movements in the bag’.

Investigators said the victim was kept shackled to a wooden chest of drawers at the farmhouse in Borgial, a hamlet near Turin.

She was forced to sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag. Police said she was not raped.

Herba allegedly told the landlord of the rural property he was a painter in search of inspiration and that he had found the right spot.