Armed robbers loot £40 million from Securitas depot |
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Published
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Thu, 23 Feb 2006 08:45
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LONDON: An armed gang of at least six people, posing as police officers, stole nearly 40 million pounds from a security depot in what is believed to be Britain's biggest robbery in the small hours of Wednesday. The robbery occurred at the Securitas depot at Tonbridge, Kent, when the robbers tied up 15 members of the staff, before making off with the cash.
Detectives have launched a massive manhunt for the thieves. According to Kent police, the robbers took the depot manager's wife and son as hostages and then forced the manager to provide them access to the high security compound. .
Britain's central bank, the Bank of England, confirmed that 25 million pounds of its money has been stolen. However, unconfirmed reports said the amount could be as high as 40 million pounds. The biggest robbery in Britain so far has been in 2004 when 26.5 million pounds were stolen from a bank in Northern Ireland, by suspected Irish Republican Army cadre.
No one has been injured in the raid at the depot, which is about 25 miles southeast of London. News reports said the police is trying to get information from the camera systems in the Channel rail tunnel that connects England with France to ascertain if the culprits had fled to Europe.
Police revealed that the gang members had come to the depot in an unmarked car with police-style blue lights late Tuesday evening and they stopped the manager as he was driving home after the work, took him to their car and was handcuffed. He was driven around and later before being transferred to a white van. In the meanwhile, another set of gang members, dressed as police officers, got to the manager's home and abducted his wife and son, telling them that he was injured in a car accident.
The manager was then threatened that his wife and son would be harmed, if he did not allow them into the depot. Late into the night, he was taken to the depot where he used his keys to allow the gang in. The gang members then tied up the depot staff and accessed the cash. The thieves were said to have been in the depot for more than an hour stacking the cash in the white truck before they escaped.
Police said the robbery was "planned in detail over time".
Bank of England said Securitas, which distributes cash from the central bank as well as collect money from banks and stores in its depots in Kent and south-east London, has reimbursed an initial 25 million pounds to the bank and the balance will be paid after a full audit.
Kent police said the manager, his wife and son were not injured in the incident. Bank of England's governor Mervyn King has ordered a high-level review of the security arrangements at the storage points.
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