On Friday, I conducted an afternoon of training for a group of executives whose role sees them travel abroad on a regular basis - to a variety of countries in both the developed and developing worlds. I am always impressed by companies and managers who see the value in equipping their staff with both self-protection and self-defense skills. It shows both a personal level of care for their employees as well as recognizing that they are also an asset and resource to the business. One of the things we discussed in the seminar was the way in which familiar business protocols can be exploited by those who plan abductions/hostage taking.

Familiarity is one of the greatest dangers to our personal safety. One of the reasons that CP/EP (Close Protection/Executive Protection) Operatives advise “at risk” people to change the routes they take to work etc. is not simply to help prevent potential aggressors and assailants from knowing their whereabouts at any given time but to also increase the awareness level(s) of the person making the journey i.e. If you always take the same route to work you will soon end up travelling 90% of it on autopilot, if you alter and change the route you will find yourself focusing much more on the journey itself.

If you travel for business, the familiar picture of a driver holding a card with your name on it at the Arrivals Gate can be a sight for sore eyes; especially if you’ve just endured a 10 hour flight. The fact that 99 times out of 100, the driver has been legitimate and has taken you to your destination does not mean that you should automatically assume that the person waiting for you this time has your best intentions at heart. Any driver, especially if they are driving a car with “Livery” plates, is themselves a target for abduction. This is a common ploy in South America, where a driver/chauffer is abducted in the airport parking lot, bundled into the trunk of his vehicle whilst a replacement driver is sent to wait at the Arrivals gate for the unsuspecting target. Although this method is more common in the developing world it works equally well in the developed.

It is however a fairly easily abduction technique to avoid as long as a modicum of time is spent up front – like most self-protection strategies…
The first thing is to make sure you don’t arrange to meet your driver at Arrivals. This has a couple of advantages; the main one being that any individual/group planning to abduct you would have to consider that your driver would be meeting you in a “specific” pre-arranged location, which isn’t the norm in these situations and if pressed your original driver would have to actively divulge the location. Both are possible but that doesn’t make them probable. A second advantage is that you can exit the Arrivals gate looking like you know where you are going and with an air of familiarity that smacks of someone who is in control of their environment – we’ve all seen the “tourist” with the fanny pack at the arrivals gate looking around for something, anything that is common and familiar…

This is one of the reasons I always advocate checking the layout of an airport before you depart/arrive (most airports have maps that are available online); being able to walk with your eye-line anywhere but the overhead signs giving directions, gives off a clear message of someone who is both familiar and at one with their environment. Watching what other people are looking at can tell you a great deal about them; when someone is looking for signs and directions their unfamiliarity is obvious. These are also the individuals who are normally happy to accept anybody’s help, handing control of their situation over to them. If you look/are lost and someone offers to help you are very likely to accept.

There is nothing wrong in asking the company who is sending the driver to provide both their name and a photograph. When you first meet them (at your pre-arranged location – away from arrivals) you will know it is them. You can also ask for them to provide you with ID. Criminals often foul up on the smallest of details and it is worth remembering this. They may send a driver who looks similar to the one you are expecting (if they are extremely organized) but forget to equip him with the appropriate ID etc. a small omission that if picked up on can thwart the whole abduction/exercise.

If in any doubt you can phone the company/agency employing the driver and ask that they send someone else or take your own transport (taxi, bus etc). If you have done your research properly and looked at the maps of the airport, you will know exactly where these depart from.

Negotiating an airport or any entrance route to a country/destination contains many risks; this was just a brief glimpse into some of the things we teach on our “Travel Security” courses. We will be looking to run more of these types of seminar, for a general audience, in the coming months.