Tourist Robberies May Be Linked

Last week, 18 tourists were held up by armed gunmen and robbed of everything they had while on a guided tour at Earth Village.

And just a little over a month before this recent incident, 11 tourists – all cruise ship passengers – were held up at gunpoint and robbed of cash and their possessions.

According to Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest, police are investigating a possible link while police also have a person of interest in custody.

"I want to believe that these incidents were isolated…in the sense that there may have been some connections," Mr. Turnquest said.

"I do not want to say more to compromise what is going on, but there are significant leads [that we are following] in that regard."

The national security minister said he has already held talks with the Executive Director of the Bahamas Association for Social Health, (BASH) Terry Miller.

BASH and Earth Village, which both share the same property, are located on Dunmore Street.

"I hope that we are able to get the police and BASH to look at the arrangements [of the tour]. There are some troubling parts of that crime event itself that the police are looking at that we want to review," Mr. Turnquest said.

"We are speaking as I said with Mr. Miller, and seeing how the overall security arrangements, which were in place for such a tour and whether there was any prior information [about the tour] given out as well."

While the incidents have angered officials at the Ministry of Tourism and members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF), they have also expressed sadness at the fact that tourists are now becoming victims of serious criminal offences. 

These recent crimes against tourists come at a crucial time for the Ministry of Tourism, which has spent millions of dollars marketing The Bahamas as the best vacation destination choice.

Unfortunately, news about the recent incidents have already been splashed across numerous online blog spots via the world wide web and numerous websites, including the Cruiselawnews.com website, which prominently features the story on it homepage.

In addition to the raw information about the recent robbery, the website also features a two-and-a-half minute video with one of the tourists involved in the incident claiming that he was robbed of $2,500.

The passenger only identified in the video as ‘Atkuns’ described the events of the entire ordeal which he said initially he thought was a joke.

He further claimed that the gunmen fired a shot once. He also claimed that he was kicked in his side.

He did, however, speak about the professionalism of the tour operator.

Questioned about the police report, which was taken at the Central Police Station, the tourist rated the RBPF a 0-1 on a ten point scale.

Director General of Tourism Vernice Walkine admitted last week that officials will have to find additional ways to attract tourists, given the crime situation, noting that the ministry will now have to dig deep and wide for potential visitors that may not have heard these stories.