Photographs of the man taken by the witness were released by the police (Representation)
Berlin, Germany:
German investigators said on Wednesday they had launched a manhunt for suspects who fled with 6.5 million euros ($ 7.6 million) in cash after breaking into an office customs.
“The robbery was planned and carried out by professionals: three unidentified perpetrators used a drill to get to the vault from a room next to the building’s basement,” police said in a statement.
“From there they stole around 6.5 million euros in cash.”
The robbery, which hit the customs office in the city of Duisburg in the west of the country, took place on Sunday, November 1.
Witnesses said they heard drilling noises around 6 a.m. Three hours later, three men dressed in dark clothing and dark knit caps were seen entering and exiting the building to load items into a white van with sliding doors.
They then left with the van.
Another witness noticed that a man was walking through the customs office before getting into a car and heading in the same direction as the van.
Photographs of the man taken by the witness have been released by the police, who are offering a reward of 100,000 euros for information leading to the arrest and / or conviction of the suspects.
100 kg gold coin
Germany has been hit by several high-profile robberies, with banks and museums frequently targeted.
A Berlin court sentenced three men to multi-year prison terms in February for the spectacular theft of a 100 kilogram (220 lb) gold coin from one of the museums in the German capital.
Police have not found any traces of the Canadian coin since the late night robbery in March 2017 at the Bode Museum, located near Chancellor Angela Merkel’s apartment in Berlin.
The “big maple leaf”, one of five minted in 2007, is considered the second largest gold coin in the world after the Australian one-ton kangaroo issued in 2012.
Two of the convicted men are from a family of Arab descent known for its links to organized crime, while the third was a security guard at the museum.
The Remmo family, whose patriarchs fled war-torn Lebanon in the 1980s, are considered one of Berlin’s most notorious organized crime clans.
Priceless diamonds were part of a huge collection of jewelry stolen from the Green Vault Museum in the Royal Palace in Dresden in November last year.
Half a million euros reward has been offered for information about the spectacular break-in, but no suspect has yet been named.
None of the objects, many of which are encrusted with hundreds of diamonds, were recovered.
More recently in Berlin, at least three bank robbery attempts were reported over the summer.
A bank in the upscale central Wilmersdorf district has been hit twice, with thieves apparently escaping half a million euros in their first offer while holding a money carrier.
It was not clear if any money was taken on the second attempt.
A separate bank in the German capital was also hit in August, but the thieves fled empty-handed.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
