Take the money and run

With news spreading about a recent daytime heist that netted $73 million worth of jewelry from a London diamond merchant, Global News looks at some other capers that have made headlines over the years:

THE STOPWATCH GANG

Three Canadians robbed banks on both sides of the border in the 1970s and 1980s. Paddy Mitchell, Lionel Wright and Stephen Reid robbed about a hundred banks, hauling in about $15-million. The trio was called the Stopwatch Gang because one of them wore a large stopwatch around his neck.

Reid became a reputable author while serving a prison sentence in the 1980s. But he re-offended in 1999 and was sentenced to 18 years for armed robbery.

JFK AIRPORT HEIST

In a 1978 heist depicted in the movie Goodfellas, a team of masked gunmen entered a cargo terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and made off with about US$6-million that was being delivered to the United States from Germany. Several of the culprits were later apprehended.

THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY

In this legendary heist, 15 masked men stopped a London-bound train in Buckinghamshire, England in 1963. They boarded the train and took more than a hundred mailbags containing 2.6 million pounds in used bank notes. Thirteen men were apprehended. One of the culprits, Ronnie Biggs, turned himself in to authorities just nine years ago.

BOSTON MUSEUM ROBBERY

In a daring 1990 caper, two men walked into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston dressed as policemen, claiming to be responding to a disturbance on the property. Security guards let them in and were promptly handcuffed. The culprits spent an hour on the property and made off with a dozen paintings worth an estimated US$300-million. To date, no arrests have been made.

ANTWERP DIAMOND THEFT

In this notorious 2003 caper, thieves took the contents of 123 vaults from a maximum security cellar in Belgium’s renowned Antwerp Diamond Center. The estimated value of their haul was US$100 million. Arrests were later made but the diamonds were never found.

MONTREAL MUSEUM ROBBERY

Museum officials disabled the alarm system to do roof repairs one day in 1972 with disastrous consequences. Thieves broke into the museum through a skylight, tied up a security guard and took jewellery, figurines and 18 paintings, including a Rembrandt valued at more than a million dollars, a princely sum in the early 1970s. The works have never been recovered.

BRINKS HEADQUARTERS ROBBERY

The Boston headquarters for Brinks boasted state-of-the-art security in 1950 but it hardly mattered. Nine thieves busted into the office in January of that year and left with cash and securities worth US$2.7 million. All nine men were eventually apprehended but one million dollars was never recovered.