Police shoot dead Tanzanian gunmen planning to rob luxury safari tourists

Five men who planned to rob a luxury Tanzanian tourist lodge where Roman Abramovich recently stayed have been shot dead by police, senior officers said on Tuesday.

By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi
Published: 7:00AM GMT 02 Dec 2009


Tanzanian police have shot dead five men who were planning to rob a luxury tourist lodge where Roman Abramovich recently stayed.

It was the latest in a series of incidents pointing to a rise in violent crime along the Tanzania-Kenya border, a region famed for its game parks which draw tens of thousands of British tourists each year.

Police laid an ambush for armed robbers close to the Gurmeti Reserve, west of the Serengeti National Park, after a tip-off, said Deus Kato, regional police commander for Tanzania's Mara Region, on Tuesday.

The men's intended targets were a series of £650-a-night luxury lodges and tented camps popular with wealthy visitors and celebrities.

Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club, stayed there after his trip to Tanzania in September to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

Mr Kato called the incident "very rare". But it comes soon after at least one recent confirmed armed robbery on British tourists staying in a tented camp in the Masai Mara Game Reserve in neighbouring Kenya.

The two conservation areas are part of one ecosystem bisected by the border between the countries. An estimated 60,000 British tourists safari in the Masai Mara in Kenya each year, and 50,000 visit Tanzania.

None of the tourists was seriously injured in the Kenyan attack, when armed men ransacked four tents and robbed four British tourists and an Australian family including two teenage boys. But at least £6,500 worth of money, valuables and camera equipment was stolen.

There have been anecdotal reports of several other armed robberies on both sides of the border, but details are difficult to confirm because most people linked to the tourist trade do not want to deter visitors.

A factor is likely to be the region's prolonged drought, which is improving since recent rains, said James Sindiyo, Chief Warden in the Masai Mara reserve.

"People are desperate, some of them have robbed traders on the road to the reserve, and maybe they think they will try the tourists," he said.

"But in fact there have been only two or three incidents this year. It is still one of the safest places to visit."

Jake Grieves-Cook, chairman of the Kenya Tourist Board, said that the numbers of such robberies was "going down".

"Everyone who works in the industry here has among their number one priorities the safety of all of our visitors," he said, adding that security had been "beefed up" and rapid response procedures tightened following the Masai Mara incident in October.

The Foreign Office advises Britons travelling to Kenya to stay in tourist camps with "good perimeter security".

In Tanzania, the FCO reports a series of attacks against tourists in the northern town of Arusha, jumping-off point for most visits to the Serengeti, but says the country is generally safe.

Nice police work.
Hopefully none of the cops were wounded.
I like it when they get to lay an ambush and shoot first, then ask questions later,
but maybe the thugs answered the police questioning with bullets?
Must have been some pretty good tips.
Armed safari hunters don't get robbed as often as the greenies, do they?

DRG says: "Kiss my liberal grits!"

A few incidents like these and we would not have any more problems with robbers.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
A few incidents like these and we would not have any more problems with robbers.

+1

What caliber do I need for shooting criminals? Double or bolt? Should I use a scope?

Wow... a very good buddy of mine just left for the last hunt of the season with Luke Samaras... but they probably wouldn't pull that stunt on a camp full of armed hunters! Tanzania is not Mexico... yet!

jetdrvr:

This is totally "off topic". Your Latin requires correction! You forgot to add "est". (My most favorite Lstin expression -and as one who avoided taking Latin {I opted for Spanish} I want you to preserve the purity of the language! (Why do I have the feeling that I just got myself very far out on a limb and you intend to saw it off behind me?)

It would be more comforting to find out just how the police learned about this intended robbery. Frankly, this story smells to any big city American. It's just another example of life in Africa -and should not be taken as an example of routine law enforcement there.