Tue, Mar 28, 2006
Thieves Made Off With Over $16 Million
Last Saturday, a band
of thieves held up a South African Airways 747 on the ramp in
Johannesburg, and made off with over $16 million -- and police say
either an airport or airline employee may have helped them do
it.
The armed robbery occurred around 10:30 am Saturday morning,
when two men armed with AK-47s approached the SAA 747 in a "high
security" section of the airport, and helped themselves to bags of
money that had been flown in from Britain. While those two were
grabbing the cash, the rest of the gang held up guards at one of
the gates.
The gang of between six to 10 robbers made off with the money --
which was bound for Tanzania, and one other African country --
without a single shot being fired.
"Our detectives haven't slept all night and they will continue
working around the clock to catch the suspects," said senior police
superintendent Vish Naidoo, according to the BBC. "We view this
matter in a serious light and I must emphasize that we will leave
no stone unturned to get to the bottom of it."
"But now, part of our theory will be that this was an inside
job," Naidoo added.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the daring robbery South African
Airways reports it was seeking a meeting with airport authorities
at Johannesburg International, to discuss security arrangements --
or the lack of same.
"We will be seeking an urgent meeting with ACSA and the police
to get an understanding of what happened and to find out what
measures have been put in place to avoid a recurrence," said SAA
spokesperson Jacqui O'Sullivan.
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