Hollywood star Mel Gibson has ignored safety warnings from the US government and is going ahead with his move to an isolated part of Costa Rica.

The Mad Max actor, 51, plans to move his wife Robyn and seven children 300 miles away from their home in California to a $26 million ranch in a rural area that is known as "bandit territory". Ignoring official US government warnings, Gibson has put two properties in California and Connecticut on the market to finance his move to the densely wooded estate in the Guanacaste province on Costa Rica's northern Pacific coast.

A State Department briefing warns that all American visitors there are "potential targets for criminals and kidnappers" and should never travel alone. It adds, "Local law enforcement agencies have limited capabilities and do not operate according to US standards."

[imdb]