A gunfight broke out at Santiago airport when a group of gunmen tried to seize a large shipment of cash.
An attempted multimillion-dollar airport robbery in Chile results in a shootout that kills a would-be thief and an airport security official.
The failed attempt took place on Wednesday morning at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in the capital, Santiago. Between 10 and 12 robbers were attacked while airport workers were removing $32.5 million in cash from a plane.
A valuable shipment arrived on a LATAM flight from Miami that was to be taken by Brinks [security] Eduardo Baeza, the public prosecutor assigned to lead the investigation, said:
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 heist stole $15 million from an armored truck.
Deputy Interior Minister Manuel Monsalve told reporters Wednesday that security officials got into 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 official were killed.
Monsalve told reporters that the thieves tied up a security guard and entered the airport in three cars. AFP reported that the thieves breached a gate and headed to the cargo hold, where they hoped to intercept $32.5 million before it could be transported locally.
After confronting the security officials, the gunmen reportedly fled, setting fire to two of their cars on a nearby highway. The search for the culprits is underway.