The subterranean theft near Buenos Aires may have been one of the most spectacular heists of all time, but it was certainly not the only robbery involving tunnels in South America. In fact, digging thieves had become such a threat to banking customers in Argentina since 1988 that attorney Nydia Zingman was able to make a living representing the victims of these crimes (via The Washington Post). Yet the worst of the underground heists occurred in the neighboring country of Brazil just a few months before in 2005.
At Fortaleza, criminal masterminds set up a fake landscaping store as a front and then dug underneath the building to a vault 262 feet away (via the Associated Press). When Richard Chamberlain, the owner of a used bookstore next to the store, was speaking with the outlet, he said, “I never saw them selling anything, and, in fact, I never saw any plant or grass for sale in that house. I’m not sure how many people worked in that house, but I would say more than five. The man who seemed to be the owner of the establishment was a friendly person who at times would pay for a round of beer in a nearby bar.”
To explain how no one noticed, he added (via the Associated Press), “The tunnel was dug underneath one of the city’s busiest and noisiest avenues, so it would be hard to notice anything unusual.” Even more successful than the famous Argentinian heist, the thieves in Brazil managed to get away with $67.8 million from the Central Bank.
