An airport sho𒁏otout in Chi🌳le's capital killed a security officer and an alleged robber Wednesday in what authorities said was an attempted heist of more than USD 32 million in cash aboard a plane from Miami.
Around 10 heavily armed r🌃obbers were able to skirt security measures to reach the runway at the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, where a Latam airlines aircraft had USD 32.5 million in cash that was being transferred to an armored truck, Interior Subsecretary Manuel Monsalve said.
There was a shootout between the 🍬would-be robbers and security offi♓cials that killed an employee of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGAC, as well as an alleged assailant.
The other robbers🧜 fled. Two burned vehicles were later f🅰ound nearby.
"The brave action by the DGAC officials frustrated the robbery," Monsalve🧸 said, noting that the would-be robbers were "highly organized" and "very armed."
Video posted on social media appeared to show bullet holes in a Delta plane that was parked next to the Latam aircraft that was targeted. An🍸other video appears to show a moment in the shootout during which a lot of gunshots can be heard.
"There was no risk to passengers," DGAC 🌸chief Ra🐭úl Jorquera said.
The attempted heist targeted the USD 32.5 million that were set to be transferred to an armoured truck to t🤪hen be distributed to several banks in the South American count𝓰ry.
The attempted robbery "will undoubtedly🧸 lead us to revise processes, protocols that must be improved … it forces us to rethink many things,"ꦑ Jorquera said.
This was not the first time the airport in Chile's capital was targeted. In 2020, thieves stole some USD 15 milli🍸on from a warehouse in the airport, six years after a similar USD10 millioꦆn heist.
President Ga👍briel Boric bemoaned the latest heist during a speech Wednesday in which he said that "when there's 𝐆insecurity, everything else wobbles."
An increase in viole☂nt crime has contributed to a recent decline in Boric's approꦕval ratings, according to polls.
