Thieves use drill to steal €30m in German bank heist

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

Thieves used a large drill to break into a safe at a high street bank branch in western Germany and steal an estimated €30m (£26m; $35m) in cash and valuables, police have said.
...
During the heist at Sparkasse savings bank in the city of Gelsenkirchen, thieves broke open more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes containing money, gold and jewellery.
...
Currently, no arrests have been made and the perpetrators remain at large.
...
Initial investigations suggest they gained access to the bank, and escaped, via an adjacent parking garage.

Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4grzz60kp3o

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As the police say, all very movie-like.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Look for thieves who own a copy of Woody Allen's "Small Time Crooks"

They stole his methodology.

[erronis]

2. Crypto theft is so much easier. No wonder that trump/musk/thiel are pushing it.

[erronis]

3. Safe-deposit box owners are screwed.

Sparkasse said 95% of customers' safe deposit boxes had been forced open by the thieves, so the likelihood they were affected is "very high".

It added that the contents of each compartment are insured up to 10,300 and told customers to check if they had additional coverage through their home insurance.

10,000 euros is probably a pittance for the losses. I'm thinking a lot of very important papers, jewelry, historical mementos, etc.

[JoseBalow]

4. And wine bottles full of LSD

[erronis]

5. Or other fun substances.

I missed out on the LSD trips. Tried crushing morning glory seeds when I was a teen but they just tasted like pencil shavings (remember those?)

[Martin68]

11. A wine bottle "full of LSD" would be enough to turn on more than 963 million people (at 50 mics a dose).

[JoseBalow]

12. Enough to spike a city's water supply, like from the old MK-ULTRA myths!

But the idea I'm referencing about robbing safe deposit boxes and champagne bottles of LSD comes from an old Richard Brooks film from the 70s, with Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn... $

[Martin68]

16. LSD dumped in a water supply would be rendered ineffective when the water was chlorinated before

delivery to the public.

[JoseBalow]

20. Yes

It's a myth.

[FakeNoose]

6. It takes time to force open 3,000 safe deposit boxes

Even with a good power drill this heist must have taken more than 24 hours ... probably more like 48 hours.
In all that time, nobody saw or heard anything?

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. I think this bit below was updated after I first read the story - yes, about 48 hours

Witnesses have reported seeing several men carrying large bags in the staircase of the garage overnight on Saturday into Sunday.

Police said video footage shows a black Audi RS 6 leaving the garage, on De-La-Chevallerie-Strasse, early on Monday morning.

And they pointed out doing it after Christmas, when things are quiet, helped them.

[Hotler]

8. 16" hole saw on the end of a 20V cordless drill.

[Wonder Why]

10. I didn't see your post hiding at the end. Sorry!

[Hotler]

13. no big, happy New Year. nt

[Wonder Why]

9. And they did it all with a battery-powered 20VMAX Default[sic] drill.

[hunter]

14. Some simple sorts of armor would have thwarted that plan.

Were the thieves involved in the construction of the bank too?

[ProfessorGAC]

15. Wouldn't Simple Rebar Have Helped?

Armor would be even better, but seems like rebar would have cost the thieves another 16-24 hours.
The longer it takes, the greater the chance of getting caught.

[hunter]

17. It sure looks like minimally reinforced concrete and concrete block wall.

From the photograph, the walls don't look like they would even pass inspection for ordinary construction here in California.

[RoseTrellis]

18. No surprise

Walls in California have to be built to a code to be resistant to earthquakes - not so much in Germany

[ProfessorGAC]

19. Thought The Same

Even Class C safes have rebar in the concrete bottom. And, that's the lowest grade of commercial safe.