American faces five years in jail after leaving Coke for world’s most isolated tribe

An American “danger tourist” who models himself on Tintin faces up to five years in prison after illegally sailing to a remote island and leaving a can of Coke for the world’s most isolated tribe.

Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 24, from North Goldwater, Arizona, tried to contact the reclusive indigenous inhabitants of North Sentinel Island, part of an Indian archipelago in the Bay of Bengal, which is off limits to visitors to protect the islanders’ way of life.

North Sentinel Island in the Andaman Islands, Bay of Bengal, is inhabited by one of the last groups on earth to have resisted contact with the modern world.

Indian police said Polyakov travelled to the island early on Saturday morning using a makeshift craft to cross a 40-kilometre strait from Kurma Dera beach on South Andaman Island.

“This is it. The last uncontracted tribe. The last mystery. If they see me, will they attack? Or will they accept me?” his Go-Pro camera microphone recorded him whispering as he approached the forbidden island.

The island is home to the Sentinelese, a pre-Neolithic tribe that has rebuffed all contact with the modern world, firing bows and arrows at passing helicopters and killing those landing ashore.

After landing, he briefly stepped out of the boat, left a can of Coca-Cola – an act reminiscent of the 1980 movie The Gods Must Be Crazy – and a coconut as offerings, collected sand samples and recorded a video before departing.

He returned to Kurma Dera beach at 7pm, where fishermen spotted him and alerted the police. He was arrested and remains in custody.

Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov in a shot from his video of a trip to Afghanistan uploaded last year. Credit: YouTube/Neo-Orientalist

Hargobinder Singh Dhaliwal, director general of Andaman and Nicobar Police, said if Polyakov is found guilty “he may face three to five years in prison for breaching the law that prohibits unauthorised entry into the areas inhabited by protected tribes of North Sentinel Island”.

This was not Polyakov’s first attempt to reach the Sentinelese.

In October 2024, he prepared a reconnaissance mission using an inflatable kayak but was stopped by hotel staff before he could launch.

In the same month, he posted a cryptic image on his YouTube channel captioned “A little Columbus Day teaser for the fans”.

The image, a cartoon in the style of The Adventures of Tintin, showed a boy with a dog aboard a motorboat approaching an island resembling the one home to the Sentinelese.

Polyakov’s YouTube channel, called “Neo-Orientalist”, reveals other risky adventures including exploring an abandoned US military base in Afghanistan.

In another video taken during a three-week road trip in the Taliban-controlled country, he is seen brandishing an assault rifle alongside Islamist militants.

In January, he returned to the Andaman archipelago, staying in the city of Port Blair while attempting to procure an outboard motor for a boat to make the illicit crossing.

Around this time, he visited Baratang Island, where he illegally filmed the semi-nomadic Jarawa tribe before departing on January 27.

In March, he returned to Port Blair. After fitting the motor to his boat at a workshop, he purchased fuel and checked into the Andaman Sunset View Resort.

Over the following days, he meticulously studied sea conditions, tides and landing sites for the journey.

On March 29, he launched his boat under the cover of darkness, carrying the coconut and Coca-Cola.

After nine hours at sea, he reached its north-eastern shore. Using binoculars, he scanned the area but saw no signs of life.

He then filmed himself wading onto the beach and placing his offerings on the sand.

The video, later recovered by police, captures him exclaiming: “I have landed here. I am a solo traveller. No one has landed here before. This is anti-climactic. No one has done this before.”

He remained offshore for an hour blowing a whistle in an attempt to attract attention, but received no response. After three hours, he began his return journey.

Authorities said he used GPS to navigate seas around the island, they said.

After his arrest on March 31, authorities confiscated Polyakov’s passport, mobile phone and Go-Pro camera.

“The unauthorised entry into the North Sentinel Island is not just a breach of Indian law, but a serious threat to the safety of both the Sentinelese and the individuals involved,” Dhaliwal said.

“Any unlawful attempt to enter restricted tribal areas will be met with strict legal consequences,” he added.

In 2018, 26-year-old American missionary John Chau was killed after attempting to make contact and convert the islanders to Christianity.

American missionary John Allen Chau was killed on the remote North Sentinel Island in 2018.Credit: AP

Polyakov told police that he was drawn to the island due to his passion for adventure and his desire to undertake extreme challenges, as well as by the allure of the mysterious Sentinelese.

Police have filed a case against him for breach of protection of aboriginal tribes and informed the Ministry of External Affairs and the US embassy.

Caroline Pearce, the director of indigenous rights group Survival International, said Polyakov’s attempt to contact the Sentinelese people was “deeply disturbing”.

“It beggars belief that someone could be that reckless and idiotic. This person’s actions not only endangered his own life, they put the lives of the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk,” she said.

“It’s very well known by now that uncontacted peoples have no immunity to common outside diseases like flu or measles, which could completely wipe them out.”

The Telegraph, London