A bank in Northern Ireland hit by a massive robbery said on Friday it was considering the drastic measure of taking several denominations of notes out of circulation as a means of preventing the criminals enjoying their haul.
"All options are being considered," a source at the Northern Bank told reporters, requesting anonymity, following Monday night's audacious raid.
In the heist believed to be one of the biggest ever staged in Britain, more than ?22 million (US$42 million) was taken, all notes issued by the Northern Bank and in circulation exclusively in Northern Ireland.
Regular British notes issued by the Bank of England are also used in Northern Ireland, and could be used in place of the Northern Bank notes for the time being.
A bank spokesman said: "All Northern Bank notes will be honored by the bank. These will include any notes that are the proceeds of the robbery but which have been handled by ordinary members of the public in good faith."
The news came as police raided properties in Belfast on Friday in an attempt to recover the money, which officers believe might have been stolen by a gang linked to paramilitary forces.
Teams of uniformed officers searched for clues at several homes and commercial properties.
Gerry Adams, leader of the Catholic political party Sinn Fein, lodged a complaint with Britain's minister for Northern Ireland, Paul Murphy, to protest at the raids on Catholic homes.
The Belfast searches were "heavy-handed and aggressive" and intended to "further destabilize the political situation," he said.
Five officers carrying out the raids were injured in Belfast when their cars were attacked by up to 100 protesters throwing stones, bottles and other objects.
According to a Northern Ireland Treasury source, if Northern Bank's parent, the National Australian Bank group, decided against withdrawing the notes, the government might act instead.
Authorities in the British-ruled region might even pass legislation ordering the notes to be withdrawn from circulation, a treasury official told reporters, speaking anonymously.
Police have refused to rule out the possibility that a paramilitary gang was behind what officers described as a meticulously planned crime.
Elements linked both to Catholic groups such as Sinn Fein's armed wing, the Irish Republican Army, and to Protestant gangs are heavily involved in organized crime in Northern Ireland, despite the end of most sectarian violence since the 1998 Good Friday peace deal.
News agency reports in Britain on Thursday quoted a source close to the IRA as saying the group had nothing to do with the robbery, but these reports could not be independently confirmed.
The loot was snatched from the Northern Bank branch in downtown Belfast on Monday night, a day after two senior bank employees were taken hostage at their homes outside the city.
The gang, posing as policemen bringing news that a relative had been killed in a road accident, took over the homes of senior bank employees on the outskirts of Belfast last weekend.
The families were taken hostage elsewhere while the men, both senior bank managers, were ordered to go back to work on Monday and act as if nothing unusual was taking place.
At the close of business on Monday, they gave the thieves access to the bank's vault.
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including