90 days digging tunnels, stealing 3.5 tons of money from the bank

At about 8:30 a.m. on Monday, August 8, 2005, the federal police department, Fortaleza city, received a phone call from the Central Bank. The officers grumbled among themselves over the interruption of the morning coffee and the theft was probably nothing more than a few desktop computers, as usual.

But when they arrived at the scene, they realized this was no ordinary burglary. It seems that over the weekend, thieves broke into the warehouse, stealing a record amount of money undetected and without triggering any alarms.

The scene of the crime is the brown glass skyscraper in the business district, which is one of nine regional offices of the Central Bank – the agency that controls the flow and supply of money inside the global economy. country.

That weekend’s vault was full of money, brand new, ready to go into circulation bills, and old notes out of serialization. Clever thieves only take old bills, and the bank has no way of tracking them down.

In total, more than 164 million reis (equivalent to 150 million USD in today’s prices) flew without wings. It was “the largest robbery in Brazilian history, the largest robbery of the 21st century and the second largest in the history of the world,” said J. Monteiro, a federal police officer who wrote the screenplay for a film based on the case. thief later said.

Stacked in bundles, the stolen money will be 33 meters tall and weigh 3.5 tons. But how did the crooks do it?

To break into the vault, thieves dug an 80-meter-long tunnel, covered with wood and installed a rudimentary electrical and lighting system, drilled through a meter of reinforced concrete with a period of 3 months. Police estimate that the construction cost to reinforce the tunnel is at least 200,000 USD.

Following the tunnel, the police finally found the entrance a block away from the bank in a business that sells ornamental plants and artificial grass. But this is where this band of thieves is disguised.

They were calculated in creating a real storefront business, with handing out flyers, distributing baseball caps, grand opening giveaways, free consultations, and even putting up street advertisements.

Neighbors said they didn’t think much of the bonsai shop, or the trucks loaded with 30 tons of rock that drove back and forth for weeks. Police found that the gang had covered the room with a white powder to make it difficult to fingerprint after they fled.

The only specific information police had was a copy of the identification that was used to rent the building. The lessor’s name was Paulo Sergio de Souza, and on his ID card there was a picture of him wearing a hat strangely.

Many locals recognized Paulo Sergio, but the police knew very little.

A bank spokesman said: “We will look into why the cameras and motion detectors inside the vault were not working and whether the thieves had any help from within.” .

But the biggest mistake in this “perfect case” came from an unnecessary indiscretion. A day after the robbery, a member of the gang bought 10 cars with cash for the purpose of transporting money and dispersing assets. But in Fortaleza, which is quite poor in the countryside, this is extremely remarkable.

The police caught up with the tractor-trailer carrying 10 cars in another state. Inside the three cars were sacks of stolen money. Of these thieves, the biggest shock was that the Mayor of Boa Viagem, a town south of Fortaleza, was also a member of the bandit. He also invested a large amount of money and with this gang built a secret tunnel.

There is also “tunneling expert” Moises Teixeira da Silva, who was involved in the biggest prison break in Brazilian history in 2001. He and 107 other prisoners escaped through the tunnel he came up with, from the Carandiru prison in Sao Paulo, South America’s most notorious prison. At the time of his escape, Da Silva was serving a total of 80 years. For this theft, he was sentenced to an additional 14 years.

The police forced them to reveal all of their accomplices and in the end, 34 people were tried.

During the trial, authorities eventually tracked down the three main perpetrators who orchestrated everything: Antônio Jussivan Alves dos Santos, “tunnel expert” Moises Teixeira da Silva, and Luiz Fernando Ribeiro. Antônio and Luiz are key financial backers, including rent, equipment purchases and bill payments.

Luis is known to be part of the PCC, a long-standing mafia organization in Brazil, and is also a drug dealer. He financed the entire operation and, in return, raked in the largest, undisclosed portion of the money.

26 gang members were convicted of a total of 133 crimes, the highest being Antônio, up to 80 years in prison.

But as it turned out, being arrested and imprisoned was a good ending for them. Many of the accomplices who were on the run had suffered far worse outcomes.

On October 8, exactly two months after the robbery was discovered, the mastermind of the case, Luiz Fernando Ribeiro, 26, was kidnapped outside a nightclub on the outskirts of Sao Paulo. A few hours later, his lawyer received a call saying that Luiz Fernando had been kidnapped for ransom and wanted his lawyer to act as a mediator.

The lawyer met the kidnappers at a suburban gas station, where they allowed him to speak to Luiz Fernando over walkie-talkies before he handed them over a million reis (about $350,000 at the time).

The kidnappers leave promising their hostages will be delivered. But Luiz Fernando never returned.

In desperation, the family of Luiz Fernando called the police and revealed that their son belonged to the gang that carried out the heist of the Central Bank, which had been divided many millions of dollars after escaping.

Upon further investigation, authorities found that Luiz Fernando was also a murderer and drug dealer for a long time. Thirteen days later, his bullet-riddled body was found in a field a few hundred kilometers from Sao Paulo.

After the death of Luiz Fernando, a series of similar kidnappings for ransom occurred. All of the victims were involved in the heist, all had their share, and all suffered the same tragic end as Luiz.

Decades after the theft, its consequences still linger. In the end, so far, only 20 million of the 165 million reais have been recovered, leaving no hope of getting it back.

According to the police chief in charge of the investigation, Antônio Celso dos Santos, “there is no way to recover more money” when so much time has passed. Some say the notes are buried in the desert. But if you visit the tiny town of Boa Viagem, keep an eye out for the brand new monumental construction. There are rumors that they were all built from the spoils of this century’s theft.

Hai Thu (According to The Independent, Ozy)