ever been robbed in a foreign country?

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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby Mikethehack » Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:49 am

All the time. It's the nature of DPs. Sometimes it happens at gunpoint, sometimes it happens at spearpoint/ knifepoint, sometimes it happens at checkpoints, sometimes it happens at airports, etc etc etc. What can I do? Fuck all, because there is usually at least 10 of them. That's what DPs are like. They are nasty places full of nasty people. Don't go if you don't like those kinds of places and don't be surprised if something 'bad' happens. DPs are not Disneyland.
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby The-Dude » Mon Dec 15, 2008 12:49 am

This last summer while i was in Paris waiting to meet a friend i almost got robbed. I was supposed to meet him under the Eiffel tower but he was a day late. We had planned on catching the first available train out as soon as he arrived so i didn't make lodging arrangements. I didnt want to spend 25 euros if i was only going to be in the hostel for like 5 hours,so i decided to just sleep in the park across the bridge from the Eiffel tower with all the fountains and figured id be fine. At about 1 am i woke up and saw 2 drunk/drugged out looking turkish dbags walking in my direction, once they got closer one of them flashed a cheasy looking fake police id and said they were confiscating my stuff while the other started going through my satchel. Officer Doñer grabbed by ray bans and started telling his friend to just take my backpack. I warned him that if he touched my stuff i was going to punch him in the face. Apparently he didnt belive me and ended up getting 65 lumens and a spikey flashlight to the forehead. I grabbed my shit and they must have thought it was too much trouble or was going to attract to much attention because they decided to leave. Thats the closest i came to getting mugged but their were countless times on the trains suspicious looking gypsies would "accidentely" come into our compartments in the middle of the night so we slept in shifts on the trains after the first couple times.
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby redharen » Mon Dec 15, 2008 12:59 am

Hey, finally a travel update from the-dude. I thought you were going to post about the travels through Europe.
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby The-Dude » Mon Dec 15, 2008 2:45 am

redharen wrote:Hey, finally a travel update from the-dude. I thought you were going to post about the travels through Europe.

Sorry bout not posting updates. Originally we had planned on having a computer, but my friend sold it right before we left so we would have more money while we were their. Our budget was extremely tight(140Euro/week:its doable ) for everything , so unfortunately we didn't have much money to hop on internet cafe's very often. As soon as i got back to the states i had to start fall quarter at college so i haven't had lot of free time but i did take pictures and a journal so now that im on winter break ill make sure to post a big update on how everything went(it was amazing).
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby redharen » Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:29 am

so unfortunately we didn't have much money to hop on internet cafe's very often.


Stellar -- that alone makes it sound like it was probably an interesting trip.
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby Caliban » Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:50 pm

ShanghaiedStampede wrote:I was mugged quite a few times in Moscow. None of which were successful. Also avoided a kidnapping. The only time I was robbed successfully was by a mob of little Gypsy bastards. Children. Fast, tiny hands...


Gypsy children. The international language of thievery. We have a permenant site for them near the city and there is a regular gang of about a half a dozen kids work the town.Impressive to watch the little bastards. And harder to catch than a rat on fire.
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby Fansy » Tue Jan 13, 2009 4:58 am

i generally walk around naked, balls dragging along behind me and most people just dont want to catch what i got
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby db36046 » Thu Jan 22, 2009 7:02 am

Does Los Angeles count? I have been the intended victim of 5 attempted robberies there over the years; they never actually got anything from me and the last 3 times the gang-bangers ended up very politely and sincerely asking me if I needed any money, before we parted company. I probably wouldn't have met any of them if I hadn't been out on the street alone at night, but sometimes you have to go where you probably wouldn't if you had a choice.

There was one guy who tried to kill me with a knife back in 1970, but he wasn't trying to rob me, he was just crazy and thought I had offended him. His girlfriend told me he had killed five people in the two weeks he had been in LA.

I caught a thief in my house in a Mexican city at 3 pm (lunchtime) one time. I invited him to sit on a chair and keep his hands visible until the cops arrived. He complied, and I didn't have to hurt him after the first little "pain-compliance" wrist-lock I applied. It took the cops 45 minutes to get there.

I caught five pickpockets on the subway in Mexico City, trying to go through my pockets and those of a friend. We didn't break their fingers, and they all got off at the next stop.

I have rubbed a few guys' faces on nearby brick walls (in different Latin American cities) to stop them from speaking disrespectfully to a woman who was under my protection at the time. They didn't do it any more after that. In fact, except when they were too drunk to do so, they have always apologized very politely.

On the other hand, several friends or their children have been kidnapped or robbed in South America and Mexico over the last 30 years. Some of them have been killed by their kidnappers. The most recent one was a couple of weeks ago in the state of Zacatecas, in Central Mexico. I haven't heard yet how that one has ended, or if it has ended yet - but in the last two years my town has been taken over by the Zetas, the enforcers for the Gulf cartel, and they are mean.

I guess the security risks are about the same in any place in the world, whether it is a "foreign" country (to you) or your passport country. You just have to learn what the local risks are and avoid them. Of course, when you can't avoid them, it helps to have an angelic guard surrounding you, as I have had. "He will give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways; on their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone..." (excerpt from Psalm 91).
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby vincent savage » Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:29 am

On Dec. 5 2002 i as walking a street in Cali Colombia when to Black dudes pulled out their pistols and asked me for money!!! What happened next blew them away, see i was eager to get to the main street to atch the Caballgata. Its a huge parade of horses that winds up Avenida Sexta. My 2 brother inlaws were behind me a short distance and seen what was taking place.......they drew down on the boys and yelled to cease what they doing. This gave me ample time to get my sidearm out and we won with out a shot fired. In the end we discovered that the pistols were plastic toy weapons......................

They were 2 lucky men !!!!!


Since then my training and skills have shot thru the roof and i don't even allow suspicious persons to ask their question, i am proactive when possible. Anybody can get caught with their guard down............but try to do your part and defiantely learn mind set. If you can't carry a gun where you are......get a screwdriver, knife or a roll of freakin' quarters and toss him in a sock, maybe a serious belt buckle on a thick belt and be willing to return instant greater violence then they are bringing to the table!!! Get them thinking about their own survival!!!
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby Foulplay » Tue Mar 17, 2009 1:00 pm

A couple of times, but I shan't bore you.

A better story is the time "Hammy" a guy I used to go hill-walking with in Wales, was approached whilst on his way home one dark night in South London.

Some black guy pulled a knife on him and tried to mug him. Hammy had had a bad day and tried to throw the guy to the ground, but kinda got stuck half way. So he snapped his arm in two and left him wriggling in the gutter. Marvellous.

Hammy was ex SAS22, and at the time serving with the Military Police. He went on to die at Majar al Kabir in Iraq June 2003 with five other MPs.
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby db36046 » Tue Sep 14, 2010 11:38 pm

Allow sincere condolences on the loss of your friend Hammy. Sounds like a guy I would have enjoyed knowing as a friend.
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby mapandcompass » Thu Sep 16, 2010 6:10 pm

1. Pickpocketed once on the Athens subway (only 30Euro from a backup stash in my backpack)

2. Shaken down in Honduras for $40 after a wandering around the barrio drinking cheap rum. That one was my own stupid fault and the only actual 'robbing.'

3. Two guys thought to rob me one night in Bethlehem, PA. It would have been a very bad decision as I was on red-alert, pissed off about something else, and relatively armed. They saw my umbrella (carried under my arm, Colonel Klink style) and I heard them whisper "he's got him a weapon.' and they veered away at the last second. I had a good chuckle at that one, I was ready to pepper-spray 'em and switch to knives when the canister ran out. Hadn't even thought about the umbrella but I used to fence and I'm pretty sure I could put out eyes and damage tracheas with one.

4. Got jumped by the Bloods one night, again in Bethlehem, PA (I went to college there). I suspect they were hoping to blind-side us to either beat up on Whitey or take our cash, or both. Either way, 7 teenage hoods surprise-attacked our (drunk) party of six but weren't expecting a retaliation. Punched a few fools in the kidneys and throats and they decided to leave us to tend to our party's injuries while they hunted for less violent targets.
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby mapandcompass » Thu Sep 16, 2010 6:31 pm

mapandcompass wrote:1. Pickpocketed once on the Athens subway (only 30Euro from a backup stash in my backpack)

2. Shaken down in Honduras for $40 after a wandering around the barrio drinking cheap rum. That one was my own stupid fault and the only actual 'robbing.'

Edit: the two below don't technically fit the thread's requirement of a "foreign country"

3. Two guys thought to rob me one night in Bethlehem, PA. It would have been a very bad decision as I was on red-alert, pissed off about something else, and relatively armed. They saw my umbrella (carried under my arm, Colonel Klink style) and I heard them whisper "he's got him a weapon.' and they veered away at the last second. I had a good chuckle at that one, I was ready to pepper-spray 'em and switch to knives when the canister ran out. Hadn't even thought about the umbrella but I used to fence and I'm pretty sure I could put out eyes and damage tracheas with one.

4. Got jumped by the Bloods one night, again in Bethlehem, PA (I went to college there). I suspect they were hoping to blind-side us to either beat up on Whitey or take our cash, or both. Either way, 7 teenage hoods surprise-attacked our (drunk) party of six but weren't expecting a retaliation. Punched a few fools in the kidneys and throats and they decided to leave us to tend to our party's injuries while they hunted for less violent targets.
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby Fugazi » Sat Sep 18, 2010 5:23 am

I would highly recommend taking some Krav Maga classes!
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Re: ever been robbed in a foreign country?

Postby marie-angelique » Sat Sep 18, 2010 7:32 pm

no, just a few attempts. like the time they tried to charge me 40 euros to put my bicycle on top of a bus in pakistan.
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