In Rio, thieves strike faster, higher and stronger

RIO DE JANEIRO: In the chaotic world of Rio criminality, it is an old trick that is winning the gold medal.

A blonde woman distracts the victim while an accomplice grabs the bag of cameras, computers or valuables. A second partner in crime sends the victim the wrong way if he or she gives chase.

This textbook larceny is being played out each day on the beachside cafes along Ipanema. Pickpockets also ply Copacabana and there is also a more dangerous version. Sometimes the attacker just takes out a knife and puts it to the throat of his victim.

Around the Olympics, thefts and muggings have become the talk of the town.

A government minister, athletes and coaches and press photographers have all fallen victim. The danger lurks from the Rio media village to stadiums, and the cafes on the upscale seafront Ipanema district.

The ‘Cariocas’, as the inhabitants of Rio are known, have long got used to the threat of crime, whether theft or murderous muggings.

Even on the night of the opening ceremony, two people were fatally shot near the Maracana Stadium where it was held. Australian photographer Brett Costello is one

AROUND THE OLYMPICS, THEFTS AND MUGGINGS HAVE BECOME THE TALK OF THE TOWN. A MINISTER, ATHLETES AND COACHES AND PRESS PHOTOGRAPHERS HAVE ALL FALLEN VICTIM.

of a growing press band to have suffered.

The journalist lost tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment in an Ipanema coffee shop and then saw the thief two days later wearing his Olympic jacket with accreditation number.

“I knew my number, you know, the vests have the number. If a guy walks in with a jacket that’s stolen from me two days before, there’s got to be something going on, don’t you reckon?” he told The Australian.

Security video of the theft showed he was caught in the blonde woman sting.

The Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency, which has 7,500 sq feet office for its 180 accredited Olympic staff in Rio, has suffered several thefts.

Security film has shown a man and a woman leaving the office pulling a case full of lenses and an official photographer’s jacket.