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Two Killed In Failed Chile Airport Heist
Officials reported that a gunfight took place on Wednesday at the international airport in Santiago, Chile, during an attempted theft that failed.
At the Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport, workers were loading $32.5 million in cash into an armored truck when about a dozen armed thieves opened fire.
The investigation is being led by prosecutor Eduardo Baeza. “Valuable cargo arrived on a Latam airline plane from Miami that was to be taken by the Brinks (security) company, at which point the subjects burst into the area and were repelled by security officials,” he said.
There was a shootout between the would-be robbers and security officials that killed an employee of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGAC, as well as an alleged assailant.
The other robbers fled. Two burned vehicles were later found nearby.
“The brave action by the DGAC officials frustrated the robbery,” Monsalve said, noting that the would-be robbers were “highly organized” and “very armed”.
A video posted on social media appeared to show bullet holes in a Delta plane that was parked next to the Latam aircraft that was targeted. Another video appears to show a moment in the shootout during which a lot of gunshots can be heard.
“There was no risk to passengers,” DGAC chief Raúl Jorquera said.
The attempted heist targeted the US$32.5m that was set to be transferred to an armored truck to then be distributed to several banks in the South American country.
The attempted robbery “will undoubtedly lead us to revise processes, protocols that must be improved … it forces us to rethink many things”, Jorquera said.
President Gabriel Boric bemoaned the latest heist during a speech on Wednesday (local time) in which he said that “when there’s insecurity, everything else wobbles”.
An increase in violent crime has contributed to a recent decline in Boric’s approval ratings, according to polls.
