City Public Security Secretary Jesus Orta Martinez was quoted on Mexican news as saying that that three armed men disarmed security guards at the offices and, in a scene right out of the movie Heat, "went straight to the vault, which was open."
"The line of investigation...is that there were deficiencies in the security protocol," he continued.“It is striking that they went directly to the vault, and that they easily removed, or stole, coins... and commemorative watches.”
The armed robbers were described as "clean cut, young looking men" and are said to have stolen gold coins, watches and other valuables. One robber reportedly filled a backpack with 1,567 gold coins, each of which are valued at about $1,610, according to Mexican bank Banorte. This would put a price of at least $2.5 million on the robbery. Local Mexican media is reporting that the stolen items were worth up to 50 million pesos, or about $2 million U.S.
Inside job?
Gold coins,,, an ounce apiece. 100 lbs in a backpack.
ReplyDeleteA little more than that, actually. Bullion is measured in Troy ounces (31.1gm) which are a bit heavier than standard (aka Avoirdupois) ounces (28.35gm) and a Troy pound is 12 Troy ounces. By my calculation 1,567 coins weigh 107.214 standard pounds.
DeleteAl_in_Ottawa
"went straight to the vault, which was open." Sounds like an "inside job" to me.
ReplyDeleteAnd all of thie traceable, not many commemorative watches that come up for sale all at once. Gold of course can be melted down into its base metal, but the loss of collector's value will be considerable.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely sounds like this person had help from inside or at least a plan of what the building layout was.
Are security guards in Mexico paid any better than the police? Rumor has it that bribing the police for traffic violations was standard practice because they were paid so poorly.
ReplyDeleteIn Mexico, "clean cut young looking men" who worked well together and worked expeditiously is saying "military" to me.
ReplyDeleteAlmost certainly an "inside job" and almost as certain that the perpetrators had .Mil training. The wild card being if a cartel is part of the mix.
ReplyDelete