A firefight broke out at Santiago airport when a group of gunmen tried to seize a large shipment of cash.
An attempted robbery at a multimillion-dollar airport in Chile has resulted in a shootout that left a would-be robber and an airport security officer dead.
The failed attempt took place Wednesday morning at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in the capital Santiago. Between 10 and 12 robbers were attacked as airport workers took $32.5 million in cash from an airplane.
“Valuable cargo arrived on a LATAM plane from Miami that was to be taken by the Brinks (security) company, after which the nationals rushed into the area and were repelled by security officials,” said Eduardo Baeza, a prosecutor charged with leading the investigation. research.
Organized crime has been a concern in Chile in recent years and the airport has been targeted in the past. In 2017, an armed group stole about $18 million, and three years later, a similar robbery took $15 million from an armored truck.
Deputy Interior Minister Manuel Monsalve told reporters on Wednesday that security officials engaged in a shootout with the robbers, foiling a “highly organized, highly armed and probably very well planned robbery.”
Authorities said one of the attackers and an airport security officer were killed.
Monsalve told reporters the robbers tied up a security guard and entered the airport in three vehicles. The AFP news agency reported that the robbers broke through a gate and made their way to the cargo area, where they hoped to intercept the $32.5 million before it was moved locally.
After being confronted by security officials, the gunmen reportedly fled, setting fire to two of their vehicles on a nearby highway. The culprits are still being sought.
