Thieves made off with millions of dollars after tunneling from a rented house in to an armoured car company’s safe. According to local media reports, the Brazilian Police claimed that the gang took advantage of the end of season football matches keeping the nation glued to the TV screens to make their secret haul.
The break in was not discovered until hours after the final whistle. A spokesperson from the armoured car company – Transnacional Transporte de Valores e Seguranca Patrimonial – told officers that 10M Reals ($US5.9M) were missing.
In a statement the Police said officers followed the 1m diameter tunnel from the company’s safe approximately 100m underground, passing sacks of coins as they went, until emerging in an abandoned house. Here they found a map of the tunnel and bags of muck from the excavation. Neighbours claimed the property had been occupied for about four months. The missing tenants are considered suspects but as yet no arrests have been made.
Local media reported that a security guard at the building heard a loud noise about 5pm that day, around the same time as the football game was under way, but took no notice, thinking it was from fireworks that fans had been setting off throughout the afternoon.
