Bandits in Guinea steal suspected Ebola blood

news.yahoo.com...

Hmmmm....

Is this a case of dumb criminals not knowing what they were stealing or could it be this is bioterrorism related?

I'm thinking the former but the latter, in my mind, has some scary consequences.

It was a highway robbery but the bandits got more than they bargained for when they stopped a taxi van in Guinea and made off with blood samples that are believed to be infected with the deadly Ebola virus.

Another thing. Why on earth are these types of blood samples being couriered by taxis?

The samples were drawn from a single person and were stored in a sealed container, and handed off to the taxi driver when armed bandits stopped the vehicle the aid group had commissioned near the town of Kissidougou, said Faya Etienne Tolno, a press officer for the Guinea Red Cross.

Hopefully this is just criminal "wrong place at wrong time" and nothing nefarious about it.

The comments at the article seem to think these thieves are up to no good.

Sounds like an opportunistic robbery that has left them, potentially, with a nasty little surprise.

As long as they dispose of the samples sensibly, then I don't think it will cause anyone any harm. But, chances are they will just discard it and who knows what will happen then, then again, they may be Ebola free samples anyway.

Here is a little more info from the Daily Mail:

The robbers held up a minibus near the town of Kissidougou which was transporting the samples from central Kankan prefecture to the test site 165 miles away in southern Gueckedou. The blood was stored in a sealed container and was being escorted by four Red Cross officials. It is believed the bandits had no idea what it was they were stealing and may have thought there was cash hidden inside the container.

Here's why they apparently decided to use a taxi as opposed to something else:

Guinea Red Cross press officer Faya Etienne Tolno explained that the Guinea Red Cross did not have its own vehicles for transport, which explains why a taxi was commissioned. 'We don't understand why they stole the blood sample. Perhaps they thought there was cash hidden in the flask,' Tolno said. Dr. Barry Moumie, who heads patient care for the national Ebola response coordination committee, told The Associated Press: 'We have informed the security services. If these thieves handle this blood, it will be dangerous.' 'I can assure you, however, that the sample-transportation procedures will now be strengthened to avoid suchdisappointments,' he said.

"Disappointments?" Are you kidding me? That is putting it mildly.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

It's scary enough that these bandits took off with samples of Ebola. What's even more troubling is the possibility that they knew what was in that minivan. They could have cased the place for awhile.......and if this was deliberate, it could be that a terrorist organisation such as ISIS wanted to obtain it.

Bioterrorism is a real possibility in today's world, unfortunately.

P.S. If these samples were escorted by Red Cross officials, then the bandits may have had good reason to expect what was inside that container. Don't Red Cross workers wear clothing that identifies them as such?

My take is that the bandits are probably common thieves.....
But nothing would stop them from marketing such samples once obtained.....
Maybe a search of the darknet could reveal such offers already IDK....

originally posted by: stirling
My take is that the bandits are probably common thieves.....
But nothing would stop them from marketing such samples once obtained.....
Maybe a search of the darknet could reveal such offers already IDK....

That's my gut feeling as well. Common thieves that didn't know any wiser.

Thanks all for your replies.

Whether it is this event or another Im sure at some point radicals will get their hands on Ebola, gain entry to America, and do all they can to infect from within.

Then when this happens as it probably already is, Obama and his Ebola Czar will hide it until it's to big to hide!

Very doable scenario in my opinion!

Umm.

"We don't understand why they stole the blood sample. Perhaps they thought there was cash hidden in the flask," Tolno said.

Or maybe they knew exactly what they were stealing.