LONDON: A gang of robbers armed with handguns, knives and hockey sticks was thwarted yesterday in an attempt to carry out Britain's biggest robbery.
A hundred police officers were lying in wait for the thieves at a warehouse close to Heathrow containing pound stg. 40million ($103 million) in gold bullion and up to pound stg. 40million in cash.
The gold had been flown into the airport and delivered to the warehouse only hours before the raid, prompting suspicions that the gang had inside information.
Six men were arrested at the scene. Despite the presence of so many police officers, many of them armed, two men escaped. A man was captured within hours but police were still searching last night for another man who was believed to be armed with a handgun.
The gang members, all wearing boiler suits or dark tracksuits, were crowded inside a white van that approached the main entrance of the cargo complex, entered using legitimate papers and then rammed the closed metal shutter of a cargo bay.
The thieves, some wearing balaclavas, burst from the van's rear doors and grabbed members of the warehouse staff.
Some workers were ordered to open a locked strongroom where cash in a variety of currencies was stored in sealed bags. The other robbers made directly for the gold bullion.
Within seconds, the area was swamped with police officers including a firearms team.
Hatton rounds - which are designed specifically to disable vehicles - were fired into the van's tyres.
Several of the raiders were bundled to the floor, and others stood quietly as they were handcuffed.
One man, armed with a handgun, ran towards the carpark where he threatened a driver before hijacking his van and speeding off, smashing through a metal security barrier. Police gave chase and found the van abandoned a short distance away, but the robber was still on the run last night.
The other robber who escaped was said to have been found three hours later by a dog team, aided by a police helicopter, a short distance from the warehouse.
One officer said: "The guys involved in this were well known to the police. They thought they were going to be very rich men."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au
A hundred police officers were lying in wait for the thieves at a warehouse close to Heathrow containing pound stg. 40million ($103 million) in gold bullion and up to pound stg. 40million in cash.
The gold had been flown into the airport and delivered to the warehouse only hours before the raid, prompting suspicions that the gang had inside information.
Six men were arrested at the scene. Despite the presence of so many police officers, many of them armed, two men escaped. A man was captured within hours but police were still searching last night for another man who was believed to be armed with a handgun.
The gang members, all wearing boiler suits or dark tracksuits, were crowded inside a white van that approached the main entrance of the cargo complex, entered using legitimate papers and then rammed the closed metal shutter of a cargo bay.
The thieves, some wearing balaclavas, burst from the van's rear doors and grabbed members of the warehouse staff.
Some workers were ordered to open a locked strongroom where cash in a variety of currencies was stored in sealed bags. The other robbers made directly for the gold bullion.
Within seconds, the area was swamped with police officers including a firearms team.
Hatton rounds - which are designed specifically to disable vehicles - were fired into the van's tyres.
Several of the raiders were bundled to the floor, and others stood quietly as they were handcuffed.
One man, armed with a handgun, ran towards the carpark where he threatened a driver before hijacking his van and speeding off, smashing through a metal security barrier. Police gave chase and found the van abandoned a short distance away, but the robber was still on the run last night.
The other robber who escaped was said to have been found three hours later by a dog team, aided by a police helicopter, a short distance from the warehouse.
One officer said: "The guys involved in this were well known to the police. They thought they were going to be very rich men."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au
