Two dead in frustrated robbery of US$ 32.5 million at Santiago airport

Two people were killed Wednesday at the Santiago airport when a dozen thieves tried unsuccessfully to take $32.5 million that had just been offloaded from a plane coming from the United States.

“A valued load had arrived on a Latam plane from Miami, which had to be removed by the Brinks company, at which time the subjects broke into said place and were repelled by security officials.”, assured the prosecutor Eduardo Baeza, in charge of the investigation.

As a result of the shooting, an official from the Civil Aeronautics Directorate (DGAC) died, identified as Claudio Villar Rodríguez, 45, and one of the criminals.

The thieves entered the air terminal in three vehicles at 7:30 local time (10:30 GMT), broke a gate and went to the cargo area. Surprised, they fled and set fire to two vehicles as they fled on a nearby highway.

In the frustrated robbery, a high level of preparation of the action was evidenced, according to the authorities.

“Criminals arrived with careful planning, violence and high firepower, despite which they were repelled by our officials”, Raúl Jorquera, director of the DGAC, told the press.

The criminals aspired to steal the large amount of cash that was being loaded into an armored truck. “They entered through a point far from routine aeronautical activity, that’s where they entered and that’s where they were alerted” (to the police), added the official.

Boric’s reaction

In the middle of an act in the presidential palace of La Moneda, President Gabriel Boric regretted the incident and promised to prosecute those responsible.

“We know that security is a priority and when there is insecurity all the rest falters. These assaults could be thwarted, but at a high cost of human livesBoric said.

In the context of an increase in the feeling of insecurity in the country, due to the outbreak of increasingly violent crimes, the president added that his administration will focus its efforts on finding those responsible.

“From our government we are going to pursue with justice those who put the lives of our compatriots at risk. Our police officers have our full support to face this terrible evil that afflicts not only our country“, held.

“Robbery of the Century”

The US$ 32.5 million that the thieves hoped to take would have constituted the largest robbery in recent years in the country.

In 2014, a cinematographic robbery took place at the Santiago airport, where a group of thieves took more than 10 million dollars, in an event known at the time as “the robbery of the century.”

In 2017, another group of assailants stole nearly 16,000 million pesos from the offices of a value transportation company in a Santiago commune, equivalent to about US$19 million and considered the largest amount stolen in Chile.

In 2020, heavily armed robbers stole $15 million from an armored truck at the Santiago airport. The robbery occurred in an area of ​​international cargo warehouses in the Chilean capital’s air terminal, where five people armed with rifles and pistols intercepted the armored truck and reduced the guards.

Source: AFP