Police now say they are searching for six men who were wearing black clothing and grey hooded sweatshirts but do not believe the driver colluded in the theft. Cargo pick-up and ‘overnighting’ in a parking lot for an early start the next morning is apparently common practice.
The thieves cut through what was described as “a flimsy lock” on the back of the truck but were apparently unprepared for what they found, perhaps expecting liquor or electrical goods as part of a larger pattern of rising cargo thefts. Crews of thieves often stake out trucks parked in lots overnight until the next morning for deliveries. In the middle of the night, they cut through fences and snip padlocks with bolt cutters to access and steal the cargo.
The mess of dimes scattered around was said to be “a result of haphazard improvisation after the thieves realized the bags of dimes in the pallets were too heavy for one person to move.” So they broke open the bags and loaded the loose dimes into something else, spilling them out of the back of the tractor-trailer and down the road as they made their escape.
At least two getaway vehicles were used (a white Chrysler 300 with tinted windows, and a dark pickup truck) with surveillance footage showing the pickup “stopping to steal nearby recycling bins, presumably to use to carry their heavy, unwieldy loot.”
Officials at the U.S. Mint said the shipment was handled by a commercial contractor that was insured against loss or theft. After the incident, officials said, “The Mint has implemented countermeasures to aid in the prevention of similar types of thefts in the future.”
This may all sound a bit odd, but sometimes the difficulty of removing the loot is part and parcel of its security. I remember years ago being one of a group of numismatic club member invited on a tour of the Royal Mint. Our host invited us to ‘steal’ some bullion in one of the strongrooms. “Help yourself” he said, pointing at the bars. “Yours for the taking”. The catch of course was that the bars were too heavy to lift and had nothing you could grip hold of. You couldn’t even get your fingers underneath them (I tried!).
I wonder if the insurers in this case may nevertheless find a “reasonable duty of care” excuse to not pay up.
Meanwhile, in Canada:
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have been called in help find out who was behind the robbery, which could be worth £84million.
news.sky.com
🤔 will take a lifetime to coin star them all and not raise suspicions.
