robbers cut through three foot thick concrete

[Serpo]

Now that's a hole in the wall! Police baffled as robbers cut through three foot thick concrete to steal £8.3m after spending weeks tunnelling 100 feet underground

The tunnel started in a nearby lock-up garage rented under a false name
The 'professionally dug' tunnel was 4.5ft high and 3ft wide

DNA evidence and fingerprints were destroyed when the robbers set it alight
About 100 safety deposit boxes were raided


By Allan Hall (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Allan+Hall) and Alex Ward (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Alex+Ward)
PUBLISHED: 16:07 GMT, 18 January 2013 | UPDATED: 18:26 GMT, 18 January 2013


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Robbers tunnelled 100 feet underground and through three feet thick concrete walls to break into a bank’s strong room, stealing money and valuables estimated to be worth more than €10 million (£8.3 million).
Police were left stumped when they discovered the giant hole cut through the wall with what appeared to be four cylindrical devices at the Volksbank in the western Steglitz district of Berlin, Germany.
It is believed the thieves began tunnelling weeks ago, starting from a nearby lock-up garage rented under a false name which they used to gain access to the strongroom.


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/01/18/article-2264567-1704AB82000005DC-917_634x390.jpg Huge heist: Robbers tunnelled 100ft from a car garage into a bank in Berlin to steal money and valuables worth more than £8.3 million

The ‘professionally dug’ tunnel was only discovered after the gang set the tunnel alight, destroying DNA evidence and fingerprints on wood and tools they used to break in.
The tunnel was nearly 4.5 feet high and 3 feet wide and was supported with wooden shoring to prevent it collapsing.
Around 100 safety deposit boxes were raided in the vaults and local media reported that panicked customers besieged the Volksbank's main switchboard to try to learn the fate of their cash, gems and other treasures they assumed were safe in lockers protected by three feet of concrete.




Police have since released a sketch of one of the possible culprits, among the raiders who used silenced pneumatic drills to break into the vault.
Police believe that the robbers may have spent weeks digging the tunnel after renting the garage under a false name and removing rubble and their spoils under the cover of darkness.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/01/18/article-2264567-1704ABBD000005DC-849_634x619.jpg Professional plot: Police believe that the robbers may have taken weeks to create the tunnel and that it began in a nearby lock-up garage, rented under a false name



http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/01/18/article-2264567-1704AC3B000005DC-50_634x410.jpg Under the cover of darkness: The tunnel, nearly 4.5ft high and 3ft wide, was supported by wooden shoring to prevent it collapsing. Police believe the perpetrators removed rubble and their spoils at night

It is believed that the robbers made their heist after close of business last Friday afternoon. The tunnel was not discovered until 6am on Monday morning when the robbers set fire to the impressive tunnel which breached one of the bank’s walls. The robbers then simply used crowbars to smash open the safety deposit boxes.
The garage had been rented since February 2012 it was reported in German newspaper Die Welt.
Police remain unsure how many people were involved in the heist but are investigating the possibility that the organisers hired professionals to cut through the walls.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/01/18/article-2264567-1704AB9D000005DC-582_634x652.jpg Ablaze: The tunnel was only discovered after the robbers set the tunnel on fire, destroying DNA evidence and fingerprints on wood and tools


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/01/18/article-2264567-1704AB97000005DC-949_634x390.jpg Police investigating: It is thought the robbers used silenced pneumatic drills to break into the vault after tunnelling through a bank wall, gaining access to safety deposit boxes

Police spokesman Thomas Neuendorf said: ‘It was professionally dug. It must have taken some while to complete it.’
Witnesses reported seeing construction workers near the garage and it is thought the robbers may have disguised themselves this way.
The parking space was room enough for three cars allowing enough room to store earth dug during the tunnel building process. The space was also separated from the rest of the garage in the multi-storey carpark with a roller door.



Read more:

Thieves Dig 100-Foot Tunnel Into Berlin Bank (http://www.worldcrunch.com/culture-society/watch-thieves-dig-100-foot-tunnel-into-berlin-bank/volksbank-steiglitz-robbery-heist-germany/c3s10671/#.UPllgqpu6SZ)




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[Cebu_4_2]

About time we have an uplifting story to read. Good for them.

[Ponce]

PS: Burglars not robbers......no innocent bystander was involved.

V

[joboo]

Holy sh-t!

[mamboni]

Not-so-safe deposit boxes. This seems to be a recurring theme these days.

[gunDriller]

Not-so-safe deposit boxes. This seems to be a recurring theme these days.

i had a safe deposit box for a while. the specific reason i closed it was that, if i used an "Ocean's Eleven" Mindset, i knew it was very feasible to rob that location.

also i got tired of the nagging doubt about a bank holiday type situation.


i think diversification is good. however i've now heard Von Gregerz say about 20 times about storing valuables 'outside the banking system', and i know how most of you guys feel.


i think the answer depends partially on if you live in an apartment or have your own home. if you're in a rented unit, you have less control over installing truly secure devices & facilities to your valuables.

[Neuro]

The wall on the photos isn't three foot thick. Maximum 1 foot of concrete...

[Norweger]

They didn't hold it and now they don't own it?

[Twisted Titan]

Not-so-safe deposit boxes. This seems to be a recurring theme these days.

And to insult to injury when they file a claim it on victim to prove the value of whatever valuables they had

If they cant do that. ...then the lowest possible amount is ascribed.

So you have a situation where people are being paid pennies on the dollar.

So they are actually getting robbed twice.....once by the robbers the secound by the bank


The irony is not lost on me

[EE_]

Beautifully executed job!

Too bad for the safety deposit box holders...the bank does not insure them.

[hoarder]

No rebar in the wall. It must have been built 60+ years ago.

[Horn]

These guys had some investment dough up front, are we sure it isn't the bankers themselves?

[Errosion Of Accord]

I've used a similar drill with a large diamond coring bit to put a chimney pipe through my foundation. The bit will buzz through 1.5 feet of cement and rebar in less than 30 minutes.

[still afloat]

The wall on the photos isn't three foot thick. Maximum 1 foot of concrete...

I would disagree , using the 6 inch jack post in the picture as a reference for measurement I'd put it very close to the 3 foot thickness .

[Down1]

I would disagree , using the 6 inch jack post in the picture as a reference for measurement I'd put it very close to the 3 foot thickness .
If it was 3 feet thick then how wide would the hole be ?
I think Neuro is closer to the right measurement.

[Down1]

A report in the Taggesspiegel on Saturday said information showed that that the bank robbers probably had inside information. Only about half of the 1,600 security deposit boxes in Berliner Volksbank’s treasury had been rented out, yet the thieves managed to figure out which boxes were occupied.

The burglars opened 309 boxes of which 294 were in use – that amounts to a 95 percent rate. A spokeswoman for the bank said there is nothing on the outside of the security boxes that would show whether the box contains anything or not.

http://www.thelocal.de/national/20130119-47431.html#.UPtBfHe5AdU


http://www.thelocal.de/national/20130119-47431.html#.UPtBfHe5AdU

[skid]

They likely used a hydraulic powered coring drill with the HPU located back in the garage and connected by long hoses. It would only take a few hours to drill through those walls.

[Dogman]

They likely used a hydraulic powered coring drill with the HPU located back in the garage and connected by long hoses. It would only take a few hours to drill through those walls.

Probably something just like this!

http://mtechservice.mtech.co.th/index.php/coring

[Serpo]

If it was 3 feet thick then how wide would the hole be ?
I think Neuro is closer to the right measurement.

Think they meant 3ft wide.....

[Down1]

Think they meant 3ft wide.....
Maybe or maybe they aren't showing us the right wall.
Germans don't seem to be anymore "free" today than in 1940.

[Neuro]

Maybe or maybe they aren't showing us the right wall.
Germans don't seem to be anymore "free" today than in 1940.
It being Berlin, maybe they are showing one of the tunnels dug by east German defectors? Faked bank robbery?

[joboo]

I've used a similar drill with a large diamond coring bit to put a chimney pipe through my foundation. The bit will buzz through 1.5 feet of cement and rebar in less than 30 minutes.

I had someone come in to install the exhaust port for my central vac system. He ripped through about 10 inches of solid concrete and brick in a few minutes. I thought something was wrong so I went to check, and he was done.