Dealing with the Ultimate Bad Boy's...

Recently reflecting on what have been some of our more challenging assignments, we unanimously agreed that protecting a client for several months who was working on a project a few hundred kilometers up the East Alligator River in Arnham Land (tropical far north Australia) would be at the top of the list.

This assignment was conducted on the crocodile infested water ways of a very inhospitable, unforgiving environment.

Although it was a relief not to have the usual rogue’s gallery of innapropriate/obssessed/emotionally disturbed fans, stalkerazzi and politically/financially motivated criminals to consider, we had to deal with a far more experienced and lethal predator who is indisputably at the apex of the food chain.


Crocodiles are believed to be about 200 million years old, other dinosaurs became extinct only 65 million years ago which give you an idea on not only how long crocodiles have been able to refine their predatory skills but how good they are at it to have survived the great extinction events.

Unlike sharks which are predators of opportunity crocodiles are the ultimate stalker assassins. Because of their size, an adult male will be up to 20 foot long and weigh around 3000 pounds, they conserve their energy and only assault after careful surveillance of their target.

They study patterns of behavior and then lie in ambush, patiently waiting for their target to be where they calculated them to eventually appear. To repeat any activity in the same vicinity of the river/flood plains in Croc territory is inviting an attack. They are the masters of concealment and stealth movement, being completely invisible and undetectable in as little as three feet of the muddy waters of the rivers of far north Australia.

Crocodiles can hold their breath for an incredible period of time, so rarely are air bubbles detectable and can slow their heart rates down to three beats per minute. From this state they can, with incendiary speed, launch an attack and pull a full grown steer into the water and death roll them.

They are heavily armour plated and could be described as an amphibious Abrams tank!



On our assignment, we had protect our client for several months whilst daily, they and we, were in small aluminum boats with a very low draught line to the water amongst numerous 14 to 18 foot Croc’s. Because of the remoteness of the location, the boats had to be launched and beached, boarded and un-boarded directly from the river banks.

As with mitigating the threat posed by any other assailant, applying the time proven strategies and tactics of surveillance detection, anti surveillance measures, evasiveness, speed of movement, respect for your opponents capabilities, understanding their SOP's,eternal vigilance and superior firepower carried they day !

DANGEROUS PLACES....

Baghdad and Kabul are well known Hostile Environments but there are also equally if not more dangerous lesser known Capitols of Violence...



Grozny, Chechnya.

Law enforcement agencies are unable to cope with rampant crime in Russia. The epicenter of the crime epidemic is Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus republics, especially Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia.
Grozny, the capital of Chechnya has for many years been regarded by K&R experts as the worst place in the world in regards to not only the number of kidnappings but also for the brutality of the kidnappers.
Unexploded mines and munitions are widespread, frequent militant violence, organized crime, clan rivalry and corruption all fuel the ongoing violence.




Caracas, Venezuela.

Venezuela’s official murder rate has soared by 67 per cent since Mr Chavez took control in 1998 and Caracas’s true homicide rate is estimated to be about 160 per 100,000 residents.Caracas has become far more dangerous in recent years than any South American city, even beating out the once notorious Colombian drug capital, Bogotá.




Cape Town, South Africa.

Any nation described as the ‘rape capital of the world’ should be one to take extra special care in. Although rape had shown a declining trend to 113.7 in 2004, it increased in 2005 to 118.3 per 100 000. Another damning statistic for South Africa is its appallingly high murder rate. Most crime is confined to poor areas but it hasn’t stopped gated communities springing up all over South Africa and armed guards protecting wealthy tourist groups. Farming in South Africa has become one of the most dangerous professions in the world. The murder rate for farmers is 313 per 100 000 – about 8 times the national average. And like anywhere, sex can be very dangerous in South Africa, where more than 10 million people are infected with HIV.





Karachi, Pakistan.

Karachi is one of Asia’s lowest scoring destinations for personal safety. Repeated terror attacks and have hit Pakistan’s financial capitol in recent years. In February more than 30 people lost their lives in a dual bomb attack




Juarez, Mexico.

At the traffic lights in this city, only the killers look at other cars. Everyone else looks straight ahead, afraid of ticking off potential assailants. By nightfall, vehicles disappear from the roads. In Juárez, Mexico, crime is so pervasive that the people are leaving, cowering, avoiding the streets -- or getting kidnapped and killed.
Already this year, 686 people have been murdered here. Residents hunker in trepidation. Most answer cell phone calls only from people they know to avoid random extortion attempts. Instead of going out on the town, they hold private parties -- and only with close friends.
Crime in Juárez also threatens to bleed across the border. Criminal gangs working for drug cartels already operate on both sides of the border, and in a sign of the growing risks, on March 13 gunmen killed three people linked to the U.S. consulate in Juárez. The sky-high murder rate is driven by two rival groups -- the Juárez cartel and the Sinaloa cartel -- and their battle for control of drug smuggling into the U.S.
Murder is only one of Juárez's problems. Ambitious cartel underlings have diversified into extortion, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery. When President Felipe Calderon sent 10,000 soldiers to Juárez in March 2008 to bolster security after a purge of corrupt police, the army largely ignored other crimes to focus on the cartels, and crime has taken off.




Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Port Moresby, with 54 murders per 100,000 population, might seem a surprising inclusion, but in August last year the entire city police force was confined to barracks for three months because officers were believed to be behind a wave of deadly bank robberies and killings
Gangs called ‘Rascals’ control the city centre, while the island nation's unemployment rate of 89 per cent, and the emergence of Chinese crime syndicates make things worse.




Mogadishu, Somalia.

Somalia is a failed state known for its anarchy, corruption, lack of government, and starvation. Travelers are warned against entering Somalia, the self-proclaimed “independent Republic of Somaliland” or even sailing near the Horn Of Africa. Pirates patrol these waters armed with AK-47s and will seize craft and hold crews to ransom. Inter-clan fighting has claimed thousands of lives in the north of the country, while territorial control in the capital, Mogadishu is carved up between many clans and warlords.
Pervasive and violent crime is an extension of the general state of insecurity in Somalia. Serious, brutal, and often fatal crimes are very common. Kidnapping and robbery are a particular problem in Mogadishu and other areas of the south.




Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Rates of crime have also soared in recent years in Rio de Janeiro. Street crime is rampant and whilst many victims are left unharmed, having a broken bottle put to your throat for your bracelet is not pleasant. The incidences of “quicknappings” has risen in major cities throughout Brazil. This involves being abducted and taken to an ATM to pay your ransom. If you can’t pay, thanks to mobile technology, your family is only a call away. Along with street crime, organized criminal groups have waged wars against police and public institutions that were unable to be bribed. Drugs dealers and narco-terrorism claim civilian casualties as well.