Paraguay's biggest-ever heist as vault targeted in 拢9m cash raid
A gang stole 拢9m in cash after blasting their way into a vault near the border with Brazil, where the gunmen apparently fled to.
Friday 28 April 2017 03:58, UK
Police are investigating Paraguay's largest-ever heist, following a brazen robbery involving around 50 attackers, prosecutors have revealed.
A gang stole $11.72m (£9.08m) in cash after blasting their way into a vault near the border with Brazil, where the gunmen are believed to have fled to.
Gunmen armed with assault rifles used explosives on the headquarters of the armoured company Prosegur in the city of Ciudad del Este.
Before targeting the building early on Monday, the gunmen set fire to around 20 vehicles and also used grenades at three nearby sites.
They also attacked a police station, killing one officer and injuring four others.
The vault was believed to have held $49m (£38m) before the assault.
Paraguay's police commissioner Abel Canete confirmed Brazilian organised crime organisation, known as the First Capital Command (PCC), had infiltrated the country and was operating from the capital city Asuncion.
He said: "The use of explosives with gel inside automatic rounds, assault on money transport vehicles, bank robbery, excavation of tunnels.
"Prior to this, it was a myth if they (PCC) were there (in Asuncion).
"But given the events that we have investigated we have determined and we have identified members of the PCC. That is to say they exist."
Paraguay's interior ministry has said three suspected members of the gang were killed in a shoot-out with Brazilian federal agents, about 45 miles north of Ciudad del Este.
Brazil's federal police arrested about 15 men suspected of being involved in the theft. But seven have now been released due to lack of evidence.
Ciudad del Este is in the 'Triple Border' region, where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet and where illegal drugs and arms flow across porous borders.