A gang of thieves in a pickup with fake security company logos looted $5 million in cash from a Lufthansa cargo flight bound from Brazil to Switzerland on March 4.
The crime took place just before midnight on Sunday, March 4. The plane was due to depart on Monday.
No injuries have been reported, and so far no arrests have been made.
Not the Biggest
While $5 million is a big haul, it is dwarfed by a much better known Lufthansa heist.That crime, featured in the movie “Goodfellas,” took place in 1978, when a team of robbers stole $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewelry from the Lufthansa cargo holding area at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.
That haul would be worth $22 million in today’s money.
Most of the people involved in the JFK Lufthansa heist ended up dead or arrested.
Bank Robbery, Too
Cargo theft has been rising in Brazil, RT reported. Thieves mostly target semi-trailers hauling cargo out of the airport. This case differed in that subterfuge instead of straight strong-arm tactics were used.However, creative crime attempts are not limited to airports in Brazil.
In December 2017, São Paulo police arrested 16 people who had constructed a high-tech tunnel under the city and into the vault of the bank of Brazil.
The tunnel was 1,600 feet long, and took four months to build, at a cost of $1.27 million.
The thieves made it into the vault, but couldn’t open the safe.
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