MDE armed robbery

A good Gringo friend who owns a house near Parque Lleras taxied in from the airport on Wed. night around 9:00
pm. Two guys on a motorcycle pulled up alongside the cab with a gun. The cabbie pulled over. My friend thinks that the cabbie was in on it. The two robbers jumped into the cab and grabbed his watch and wallet. One took the wheel and took off like a bat out of hell. The first time the cab slowed down enough, my friend jumped out and ran. He believed that they were going to kidnap him for ransom.

Believe it or not the cops caught the guys. One guy with the watch and wallet got away on foot. All the rest of the stuff(suitcases, etc.) was returned. My friend spent the whole night in the police station then had to show up in court the next day. He is very grateful to be alive.

Moral of the story, especially at night: take the bus or arrange to have a taxi waiting. A Colombian friend of my friend's says never hail a taxi from the street in
MDE.

The bus fare to centro has increased from 4 to 5K. However, the buses do not run after around 7:00 pm.

By tomtom33 on Jan 28, 2006, 08:57 in Friendly Talkzone.

ElPadrino1 says on Jan 28, 2006, 09:12:

????????????? How could this Possibly happen?? In Medellin Col? One of the safest world cities?:) This is astounding! Hope that Taxi Driver wasn't hooked up with those Al Queda/Hamas guys buying those fake passports! Wow!

juancegomez says on Jan 28, 2006, 09:28:

Sorry about that but... Nothing really that surprising, in the end. These things happen from time to time, and likely they will never stop happening no matter how much the crime rates go down OR up. Taking the necessary preventive measures and leaving the rest up to luck is practically all that one can do.

CrazyGirlPerez says on Jan 28, 2006, 10:04:

damn thats sucks, but thank God your friend is fine, thats all that matter.

sweetcalena says on Jan 28, 2006, 10:18:

:( thats not right, but I'm glad your friend is fine and police caught the bad guys!!! People got to be cautious during night time no matter where their location is.

“Sit down to write what you have thought, and not to think about what you shall write.�?William Cobbett

arthur brode says on Jan 28, 2006, 11:49:

always call for a taxi at night and make sure before you hang up that you ask for the vehicle id # and confirm this vehicle id # when your taxi arrives because it has been known for the bad guys to intercept the radio signal.personally,during the day i walk.everything is so close here in cali central that you dont need a taxi.

http://www.calirentals.net/

caslug says on Jan 28, 2006, 12:53:

was this an airport taxi? because at the rio negro airport, i thought they gave you a receipt so it was very safe to take the taxi.

Cerealkiller says on Jan 28, 2006, 15:36:

how can it not be surprising? didnt you read the cops actually caught them? jesus christ ive never heard that one before!

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives -John Stuart Mill

tomtom33 says on Jan 29, 2006, 05:21:

It was Rio Negro. I should have mentioned that. No, you don't get any receipts. You just walk out ther door and grab whatever taxi is there.

I have since saved a taxi number to my cell(034-444-0000). The next time I arrive after the buses stop running and my novia's sobrina is late to meet me, I'm calling the cab from the immigration line.

GIB, in my limited experience with MDE this is news, not only that they caught the guys. That road into MDE is so well patrolled. I just grabbed the first cab last week when I got here. Never even thought about problems. Of course I will admit to having become complacent.

This kind of stuff does not happen along the coast. There are no guerillas to buy you.

DonkeyDust says on Jan 29, 2006, 09:57:

Rio negro taxi at night. you could have what looks like a friend record the number for you as you leave to make an impression on the driver. But..if he has a plan with some buds to make it look like he was a victim too that wont do any good will it? same for calling a cab?
It is like the ...taking the cap off the bottle at the table.. I can pop a top off with a lighter so after i drug the beer i can pop it back on and make it look like it was not tampered with. This safety biz is too tricky.
Changes in Latitudes...attitudes.

Latitudes attitudes & platitudes.

elmodefoque says on Jan 30, 2006, 06:56:

I keep telling you guys but you WONT listen, keep hanging out in Medellin, Cali, Bogotá and see what’s gonna happen. I rather hang out in a place (Barranquilla) where the worst that could happen is that I bust my ass in one of those holes in the side walk. My 78 year old uncle moved back to barranquilla, after living in NYC for almost 50 years, he busted his ass walking down the street, got 3 blood clods in his head but doctors in curramba saved his old ass and is getting better by the day. All he wanted me to bring him from NYC was “The New York Times.
Getting back to gringos venturing in cities where kidnapping for paseo millonario or selling your ass to farc is prevalent, please be very careful, better yet! I would get the f—k outta there!

over 5 million colombianos in USA and only 27 barranquilleros, i'm one.Curramba, el mejor vividero del mundo!

tomtom33 says on Jan 30, 2006, 07:12:

GIB The reason my friend thought is was going to be a kidnapping is that they started going back up the mountain. There are very few ATMs and a lot of bad people up there.

Got that right, Elmo. All I have to do is make it to the airport today in one piece, on the bus, and I'm off to CTG. My Paisa novia, who had to spend the week in Bogotá for work, was very worried about me being alone all week in MDE. Of course part of the worry was that I am good at finding companionship. These wonderful women even like fat, old guys.

nena_cgena says on Jan 30, 2006, 07:45:

This Cartagena-lover says BE SMART, wherever you are! I was born in Bogota but am much more familiar with traveling in Cartagena although I have lived in the U.S. for 30 years. There are basic rules you follow that I'm certain would apply to tourists traveling to any large city where poverty/crime exists. In my opinion, it doesn't matter if you travel to Medellin, Kingston, Rio or New York City. You have to know what you're doing and be smart. Any "foreigner" seen being too complacent or ignorant to the environment can be taken advantage of. Basic rules for traveling in taxi in Cartagena would apply anywhere (Medellin,Bogota,etc)... these are my rules: only carry enough cash to get you by for the day or two; have plenty of small bills to pay the taxi instead of having him pretend to not have change for a large bill; negotiate the price of the taxi ride with the driver before you get in the car (it would help to know how much the ride should be), if you know your way around the city, tell him what route you want to take... so he knows you know where you are and he will be less likely to take you into a part of town you shouldn't be in; call a radio taxi, they give you a car id# and send the taxi to pick you up, they are a little more expensive but most of these drivers have been thoroughly screened and are monitored closely, their cars are always nicer too.
I LOVE CARTAGENA!
Anne-Marie
nena_cgena

elmodefoque says on Jan 30, 2006, 08:03:

Tom, just like I was saying before, we ain’t got no mountains in Barranquilla, where is the guerrilla gonna take and hide people, the beach in Puerto Colombia? Behind a group of burros in Soledad? Or maybe under a bunch of Aguila crates.
Anyway, costeños got better things to do with their time, like chasing young girls, getting drunk and dancing.
I better get back to work!

over 5 million colombianos in USA and only 27 barranquilleros, i'm one.Curramba, el mejor vividero del mundo!