Police said on Monday that they foiled what could have been one of the biggest robberies in British history, when they arrested seven men attempting to snatch nearly £80 million (US$142 million) in gold and cash from a warehouse just outside London's Heathrow airport.
"The gold was [worth] 40 million," a senior London police spokesman said. "We believe the figure is in the region of 30 to 40 million in cash, so between 70 and 80 million in total."
The police said their officers were lying in wait when the would-be robbers rammed their way into the Swissport cargo warehouse in a van and threatened staff with "at least one firearm and other weapons including knives and cudgels."
"In preventing this attack, we have foiled what would have been one of the biggest robberies ever committed in the United Kingdom," deputy police superintendent Barry Phillips told the media.
"We believe that these men were part of an organized criminal enterprise," he said, adding that the attempted robbery had required a lot of planning and preparation.
One of eight robbers escaped.
Had it succeeded, the heist would have dwarfed the 1983 Brinks Mat robbery in which £26 million in gold was stolen from a warehouse at Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport.
It also would have rivaled the famous Great Train Robbery of 1963, in which £2.3 million was lifted from a mail train -- a sum that would be worth about £40 million today.
"History will show that this is just as significant an attempted robbery in the 21st century as the Great Train Robbery and Brinks Mat," said Phillips, who branded the suspects, all in their early 30s, as "career criminals."
"They knew where the gold bullion was located inside the premises and went straight for it," he said. "As the vehicle reversed through the shutters, that was the signal for the armed police to ... effect the arrests."
Around 100 police officers took part in the operation near Heathrow's passenger Terminal Four and the main airport cargo terminals.
No gunfire was exchanged, though police used special rounds to shoot out the tires of the van. The only man to escape got away by hijacking a nearby van.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
RSS