Influencer arrested for bringing Diet Coke to untouched Andaman Island tribe

“He landed briefly, left the offerings on the shore, collected sand samples, and recorded a video..."

Influencers, man. What big ol’ piles of doo. Adding another chapter to the Annals of Idiocy, the US-by-way-of-Ukraine Like Farmer Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov was arrested, days ago, for sneaking onto a restricted Andaman island carrying a coconut and a can of Diet Coke.

North Sentinel, which is governed by India, is home to the Sentinelese people, a tribe that has been completely untouched by the industrial world. There’s believed to be 150, or such, though no one quite knows as any outsider is banned from coming within 3 miles of the Manhattan-sized island in order to protect the group from disease and allow them to preserve their way of life.

Polyakov, however, thought the opportunity to taste Diet Coke for the worst time outweighed the possibility that all Sentinelese might die from small pox.

The 24-year-old commandeered a boat and rowed over, blowing a whistle offshore for an hour to attract the tribe’s attention before heading to shore.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands police chief, HGS Dhaliwal explained, “He landed briefly for about five minutes, left the offerings on the shore, collected sand samples, and recorded a video before returning to his boat. A review of his GoPro camera footage showed his entry and landing into the restricted North Sentinel Island.”

Polyakov had, apparently, attempted to reach the island in 2024 but was stopped by staff at the hotel where he was staying. He was arrested on Monday, Dhaliwal continuing, “The American citizen was presented before the local court after his arrest and is now on a three-day remand for further interrogation.”

The Sentinelese have actively and aggressively shunned outsiders, menacing anyone who dares get close and killing a missionary who made landfall in 2018.

The Bay Boys of the Indian Ocean.

If you don’t live here, don’t preach here.