Police have arrested a 21-year-old male believed to be responsible for the robbery of tourists travelling on a bus at the Jackson Ridge area on Sunday 9 March 2008.

Central and Naha Detectives arrested the 21-year-old male at Sun Valley in the Lunga area yesterday.

The tourists were from the Holland America Line cruise ship Statendam that docked at Point Cruz on Sunday 9 March 2008. During a tour of World War II sites, the bus full of tourists was stopped by a man wearing a mask on its return from Bloody Ridge.
The masked man allegedly stopped the bus and robbed some of the tourists.

Acting Deputy Commissioner of Operations, Edmund Sikua, said that the successful investigation should be seen as a warning to other opportunists that robbing tourists will not be accepted.

"Tourists are vital for this country's economy and I was very disappointed to hear that some of them had been the victims of crime during their stay in the Solomon Islands.

"Police worked very hard on this investigation and I'm pleased that an arrest has been made just over two weeks since the incident happened.

"I would like to thank the officers involved in this investigation and also thank members of the public that assisted police in catching this criminal," he said.