  
| 
| ||||||||||||||
Sketches issued of heist suspectThird arrest over UK robbery of up to $87M in banknotes
 Police released these sketches of the man they believe abducted the security depot manager. RELATED
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTSLONDON, England (CNN) -- Detectives investigating an armed robbery at a security warehouse in southeast England thought to have netted up to 50 million pounds ($87 million) in cash have released sketches of one of the key suspects. They believe the man posed as a police officer to trick Securitas depot manager Colin Dixon to get into a Volvo car in a lay-by on the A249 near Stockbury, at around 6:30 p.m. local time (1830 GMT) on Tuesday. Earlier police said the car had been found ablaze in the village of Leeds near Maidstone on Thursday night. Dixon's car, a silver Nissan Almera, was also located, police said. It was found last night at a public house in another village, Detling. Earlier police said they were now questioning three suspects. In the latest arrest, a 41-year-old woman was held at a building society in Bromley, south London, Thursday. She would be questioned by detectives on suspicion of handling stolen goods, a spokesman for the force told the UK's Press Association. Earlier, officers from Kent police's serious and major crime squad said they had arrested a 29-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman in the London area Thursday, and they were being questioned Friday. Those two were also being held at police stations in the county of Kent, southeast of London, where they are being questioned on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery. "The arrests at this stage are significant," Assistant Chief Constable Adrian Leppard told reporters Thursday evening. The arrests came after Wednesday's robbery at a security depot in which an armed gang stole at least £25 million ($44 million) in cash after abducting the manager, his wife and their 8-year-old son. Leppard said the heist was carried out with "military precision" by professional robbers operating at the "top level" of organized crime. He called the robbery a "terrifying crime" and appealed for information about vehicles connected to what is Britain's biggest robbery. The private security firm Securitas and its insurers have announced a reward of up to £2 million ($3.5 million) for information leading to the recovery of the cash -- a mixture of new and used bank notes -- taken from the depot in Tonbridge, Kent. "This is organized crime at its top level. This was planned and executed with military precision," Leppard said. "This is a terrifying crime committed by professional and organized gangsters." In the first CCTV image released Thursday, the rear door of a white truck used in the heist is shown open, apparently ready for piles of cash to be placed inside. Another shot shows the vehicle from the side. None of the gang, thought to number six men, is clearly visible. "We know that someone out there will have seen or heard information that could be vital to our investigation, or they suspect who could be responsible," Leppard told reporters. The robbers captured the depot's manager, then took his wife and son hostage and threatened to harm them unless the manager helped the robbers get inside the high-security compound, police said. The Bank of England, Britain's central bank, confirmed that at least £25 million ($44 million) of its money had been stolen. The bank added that Securitas, which owned the depot, had reimbursed it for that amount and British taxpayers would not be out of pocket. Securitas said an audit was taking place to work out exactly how much had been stolen. The gang must have had inside information, crime experts said. The governor of the Bank of England has called for a review of security arrangements for the storage of banknotes following the raid. In the United Kingdom's previous biggest cash robbery, £26.5 million ($46.3 million) was stolen from the Northern Bank in Belfast in December 2004. The UK includes Britain and Northern Ireland. Staff shockedThe robbery began Tuesday evening when the manager was stopped by what he believed to be an unmarked police car about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday as he drove home from work, police said. The car was believed to be a Volvo with blue lights in its radiator grill. "A passenger wearing a high-visibility jacket and police-style hat got out and spoke to the manager who, thinking these were genuine police officers, got back into the car with him where he was handcuffed," police said. The Volvo drove off. (Watch as police investigate the crime -- 2:04) At about the same time, the manager's wife and son were visited at their home by two men who said they were police officers and told them there had been an accident involving the manager. The wife and son were taken from their home, police said. Meanwhile, the Volvo met up with a white van, and the manager was tied up, put into the van and driven to an unknown location, where he was threatened at gunpoint and told his family would be at risk if he did not cooperate, authorities said. About 1 a.m. Wednesday, the manager was taken to the security depot. A white truck also arrived there, and six men -- at least some of whom were armed -- tied up the depot staff on duty "and then loaded a substantial amount of money" into the truck, police said. "They left about 2:15 a.m. and staff raised the alarm about an hour later. No one was hurt during the incident, but the staff were all very shocked by what happened." The statement did not address when the manager's wife and child were released, and did not divulge the amount stolen. 
|
| ||||||||||||||
| © 2007 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. |
 |
|
External sites open in new window; not endorsed by CNN.com
Pay service with live and archived video. 
