Bank Robbery

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Banco Central burglary at Fortaleza

The Banco Central burglary at Fortaleza was a bank robbery of the Banco Central in Fortaleza, a city in northeastern Brazil. It was the country's, and one of the world's, largest known burglaries.

On the weekend of August 6 and August 7, 2005 an unknown gang of robbers tunneled into the Banco Central in Fortaleza and removed five containers of 50-real notes, with an estimated value of 156 million reais (US$68 million, £36 million). The robbers managed to evade or disable the bank's internal alarms and sensors; the robbery remained undiscovered until the bank opened for business on the morning of Monday, August 8.

Fortaleza is the fifth largest city in Brazil, and capital of the Brazilian state Ceará. The Banco Central is a national banking institution charged with control of the money supply, and the cash in its vaults was due to be examined for its suitability for recirculation or destruction.

Three months earlier, the gang of robbers had rented an empty property in the centre of the city and then tunneled 78 m (255 ft) beneath two city blocks to a position beneath the bank. The robbers disguised their activities with signs for a company making artificial turf. Neighbors, who estimated that the gang consisted of between six and ten men, described how they had seen van-loads of soil being removed daily, but understood this to be a normal activity of the business. The tunnel, being roughly (70 cm)² and running 4 meters beneath the surface, was well-constructed: it was lined with wood and plastic and had its own lighting system.

On the final weekend, the gang broke through 1.10 meters of steel-reinforced concrete to enter the bank vault. The bank notes weighed approximately 3.5 tonnes and would have required a considerable amount of time and effort to remove.

"They worked for several months", police said, "The gardening company was working since March. They had sophisticated equipment, including (global positioning systems) and experts in math, engineering and excavation."

So far the only trace police have of the gang is a pick-up truck branded with a "Synthetic Lawns" logo which was found at the house.