Germany 

Drilling gang hunted after brazen heist: “Oceans Eleven”

Johan Edgar

Published 00.27

 

The gang that drilled into the bank vault is still at large. Photo: Police

They paid the parking ticket and disappeared.

They had valuables worth hundreds of millions of kronor in the cargo.

The drilling gang is now being hunted after the brazen Christmas heist.

The police in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, have no trace of the gang that robbed the Sparkasse bank over the weekend.

It is not even certain how many robbers participated in the heist.

“It was the work of professionals,” says police spokesman Thomas Nowaczyk.

Like a Hollywood heist

It is stated that the robbery must have required meticulous planning, knowledge of the bank’s procedures from the inside and was professionally carried out.

Police say the approach is reminiscent of the heist in the Hollywood film “Oceans Eleven,” writes the BBC.

Surveillance cameras down in the parking garage in the same building as the bank show the robbers’ arrival and escape.

The bank robbers arrived in a stolen black Audi, paid for a ticket and parked.

They broke into the bank’s premises via a back door. From there, they were able to drill a hole large enough to get into the vault.

The robbers were caught on surveillance cameras.

 

The robbers were caught on surveillance cameras. Photo: CCTV

They were in the bank for many hours

For several hours, the gang was then able to break open safe deposit box after safe deposit box with a crowbar.

Some information suggests that they may have spent more than a day in the bank premises.

According to Sparkasse, the robbers had broken into around 95 percent of the bank’s 3,250 safe deposit boxes.

Then they left the same way with the loot.

Back in the garage, a steel barrier was raised to let in a white Mercedes where accomplices helped to drag the loot into both cars.

The gang then drove out of the garage and disappeared.

 

Helpers were let in to help load the loot.

Hundreds of millions gone

It took a couple of days before the extent of the heist became known.

The value of the stolen valuables is estimated at more – or perhaps much more – than 300 million kronor.

The total insured value in the safe deposit boxes is 31 million euros, 335 million kronor, but the real value of the stolen goods is unclear until all customers' valuables have been mapped.

According to local media, many of the bank's customers have stated that they kept gold and precious jewels in their safe deposit boxes.

A number of customers have told police that their valuables were worth significantly more than the insured amount of a maximum of 111,000 kronor per safe deposit box.

Chaos after the announcement

On Monday and Tuesday, chaos ensued as angry customers tried to enter the bank to find out what had happened to their valuables.

A large police force had to protect the barriers around the building.

It is unclear how the gang was able to enter unnoticed and work undisturbed for so long.

Witnesses have subsequently told police that they encountered several men carrying large bags in the parking garage stairwell during the night between Saturday and Sunday, writes the BBC.

According to the surveillance camera, the suspected robber-Audin only left the garage during the night towards Monday.

The heist was first discovered when a fire alarm went off in the building at 3:58 a.m. Monday night.

Firefighters and police searched the building and found the hole in the vault.

 

Police outside the bank after the robbery. Photo: AP