Military police officers carry a bag filled with money left behind by armed bank robbers, in Criciuma, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. A group of 30 heavily armed criminals entered a bank … Elected officials looked weary and shellshocked when they addressed reporters Tuesday morning at a news conference. “It was a surreal scene,” said Clésio Salvaro, the mayor of the city of about 220,000, said in a televised interview Tuesday morning. ... Brazil, on Dec. 1, 2020. Outside the local branch of the Bank of Brazil that was hit by the robbers. “What happened was unprecedented for people from Criciúma and Santa Catarina,” he said. Videos posted online showed people cowering near buildings as volleys of gunshots could be heard. Bank Robbers in Brazil Terrorize a Sleepy City, Overpowering Police. Read more:Armed bank robbers swarm on Brazilian city. Dozens of criminals armed with assault rifles invaded the city in southern Brazil overnight and took control of the streets as they assaulted a local bank. An organized gang struck the southern city of Criciúma with guns and explosives, robbing a bank and briefly taking hostages. RIO DE JANEIRO. Helder Barbalho, the governor of Pará, said on Twitter that he had been in contact with the security authorities over an “episode” in Cametá, and that he would work to “ensure that peace is resumed as soon as possible.” He did not elaborate. A police officer checking a recovered bag with money, after a bank robbery in Criciúma, Brazil, on Tuesday. RIO DE JANEIRO — The assailants arrived in the sleepy city in southern Brazil just before midnight ready for battle: They wore head coverings and body armor, and were armed with powerful rifles and loads of explosives. Subsection Latin America & Caribbean. (Guilherme Hahn/Futura Press via AP) Police look at equipment suspected of being used to make explosives at the scene of a bank robbery in Criciuma, Brazil, on December 1, 2020. Criminals have carried out a handful of similar attacks in such places this year, rather than in the metropolises where large, well-equipped police forces have experience battling violent crime and powerful gangs. Brazil bank heist: Armed gang escape by convoy. They were successful, the amount unknown.This TikTok provides a summary of the imagerypic.twitter.com/1hjSY51ne0, Galera de Criciúma,tomam cuidado,eles estão com refens e estão pegando mais,estão atirando nos carros que estão passando..Tem mais de 10 carros pretos espalhados por Criciúma..E estão todos com armas pesadas. A gang of armed thieves laid siege to a Brazilian city and assaulted banks in what the city’s mayor called a “robbery of great proportions.” Video footage caught the brazen criminals in action, before police arrested several. Dozens of armed robbers take control of streets in Brazilian city, loot bank. “This points to a group that came from outside. 'Money Heist' is a Spanish crime drama series that has amassed fans the world over. Bank robbers armed with military-grade weapons have laid siege to ... armed bank robbers launch assault on Brazilian city; Tue 1 Dec 2020 12.02 EST Last modified on Tue 1 Dec 2020 … © Autonomous Nonprofit Organization “TV-Novosti”, 2005–2021. Armed bank robbers storm another Brazilian town, battle police. By Associated Press. Hours later, Brazilians reported another gang robbery over 2,000 miles away. In 2019, there were 21 bank robberies in the state of São Paulo alone, according to official figures. Social media users said that a gang of men was staging another bank robbery, and the public security secretariat of Pará confirmed on Twitter that it had been notified of a robbery in progress. “The whole city was in shock, and with gunshots everywhere. “The city was left in a state of panic.”. For some residents of Criciuma, the story had a happy ending. Local media reported that there were 30 robbers involved in the heist. Basicamente as pessoas estão no centro de Criciúma catando o dinheiro que caiu no chão!! 12:23am Dec 2, 2020. More than 20 criminals armed with assault rifles allegedly targeted a branch of the state-run Bank of Brazil … It was constant gunfire and bombs.”. Police officers surround an area where explosives were found, after a gang robbed a Banco do Brasil (Brazil Bank) in Criciuma, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, December 1, 2020. Early on Wednesday, Brazilians reported online that heavy gunfire had erupted in the town of Cametá, which is more than 2,000 miles north of Criciúma and is in the northern state of Pará. Masked Brazilian Bank Robbers Lay Siege To Another City, Kill 1 Just a day after a band of armed gangsters robbed a bank in Criciúma, another in the city of Cametá was targeted. Paraguay heist sparks deadly gun battles Subscribe to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you, Police officers carry recovered bags with money in Criciuma, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, December 1, 2020 © Reuters / Guilherme Ferreira, ‘Throw a pokeball at it!’ Internet loses it over viral footage of otherworldly sea creature, Overpowering crosswind makes airliner HOVER above runway during landing at London’s Heathrow (VIDEO), ‘Throat of fire’ volcano signalling imminent, devastating COLLAPSE, One American woman is trying to bring down Pornhub (but her fight isn't against porn), ‘I don’t want to shame Greta Thunberg, but…’: Activist dubbed ‘anti-Greta’ by media RIPS INTO ‘climate alarmism’, Mars colony game changer: New technology can extract water and fuel from salty water, Trump behaved no worse than JFK or Clinton – all these ‘Orange Man Bad’ cries only hurt the media, Police raid homes in three states as Germany bans far-right group that wanted to re-establish Nazi dictatorship, Phallic statue in Bavarian mountains vanishes… just like mysterious Utah monolith, Four killed, dozens injured by speeding car in pedestrian zone of Trier, Germany (VIDEO). The assault caused shock in a country dominated by organized crime. Four suspects were arrested on Tuesday morning, and a quantity of cash was recovered, though police did not say now much was stolen. Police officials said the officer underwent surgery and described his condition on Tuesday morning as “serious.”, “The criminals clearly planned, prepared and invested beforehand,” Anselmo Cruz, a police supervisor, told reporters Tuesday morning. No deaths were reported. Heavily armed bank robbers laid siege on Tuesday to an entire city in southern Brazil, overpowering local police. One video clip caught the moment an explosion was set off inside a bank. Dozens of criminals armed with assault rifles invaded the city in southern Brazil overnight and took control of the streets as they assaulted a local bank. “The shooting was unrelenting. This website uses cookies. Without firing a single shot, the thieves pulled off the third-biggest robbery in Brazilian history. Inacreditável!!!!! Momento em que um banco é explodido em Criciúma. December 02, 2020 10:50 AM ET. “Clearly it was the work of a group that is highly organized and specialized.”. Dozens of criminals armed with assault rifles invaded a city in southern Brazil overnight and took control of the streets as they launched an assault against a local bank branch.Video from residents that ... 'Well-prepared' Robbers Seize Brazilian City, Loot Bank. Bank robbers in southern Brazil blasted explosives and fired high-calibre weapons at police late on Monday, in an audacious 'Money Heist' style robbery. Nobody knew what to do,” he said. All rights reserved. Similar heists to Monday’s assault on Criciuma have been reported in the cities of Araraquara, Botucatu, and Ourinhos in recent months. A gang of thieves in Brazil are being compared to Robin Hood and his Merry Men after leaving bank notes strewn behind in the wake of two brazen bank heists in … “We will not tolerate these criminal actions in the state of Santa Catarina.”. 04 Dec 2020 ; A combo ... Brazil has a long history of bank heists, and major lenders have struggled with a wave of violent robberies in recent years as criminals have mastered the use of explosives to access cash. By Ernesto Londoño, Livia Albeck-Ripka and Elian Peltier. ... (@ZellFlorizel) December 1, 2020. David Biller. Think your friends would be interested? Some photos and videos showed men sitting in a file along a street. Last year, a group of armed robbers disguised themselves as police officers to steal a whopping 750kg of gold in broad daylight from a Sao Paulo airport terminal. Last Updated: 1st December, 2020 20:56 IST Brazil: Crime Gang Carries Out 'Money Heist' Style Robbery Mounting Fierce Assault; Watch A city in Southeastern Brazil called Criciúma was besieged by an organised ''crime gang'' on Tuesday, December 1 as they ransacked bank offices and shot people Two people, including a police officer, were reported shot. Military police officers carry a bag filled with money left behind by armed bank robbers, in Criciuma, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. “Criciuma is the target of a major assault,” Mayor Clesio Salvaro told residents, adding that the city was undergoing a “robbery of great proportions, by very well-prepared thieves.” As videos of gunmen patrolling the streets were shared on social media, Salvaro told the city’s 220,000 people to “stay home,” and “let the police do their job.”, O grupo está com lança foguetes em Criciúma!!! Read RT Privacy policy to find out more. The robbery gang wounded two people and left reams of cash laying on roads as people hurried and pick it up. In recent years, gangs have attempted to dig their way to millions through tunnels, detonated dynamite to rob banks and have blown up cash machines. Several residents of Criciúma who were shaken from their sleep by the blasts and bursts of gunfire managed to record snippets of the attack from windows and balconies using cellphones. The thieves, described by a Military Police commander as “a gang that specializes in bank robbery,” stormed the city of Criciuma shortly before midnight on Monday. In the first half of 2020, there had already been 14. “An assault is taking place right now in the city,” Renan Brites Peixoto, a reporter for GloboNews, said on Twitter. ... 01 December 2020 … We don’t have criminals with this profile in Santa Catarina.”. Reporting was contributed by Mike Ives, Manuela Andreoni, Letícia Casado, Yan Zhuang and Daphné Anglès. Outlook Web Bureau 03 December 2020 Over nearly two hours, the gunmen held the city of Criciúma hostage, shattering the nighttime calm with explosions and volleys of gunfire. The siege later appeared to end less than two hours later. Video footage widely shared on social media showed people grabbing what appeared to be cash off the streets in the aftermath of the attack. Military police officers carry a bag filled with money left behind by armed bank robbers, in Criciuma, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. pic.twitter.com/48UnUGCFA4. Brazil has a robbery rate more than four times higher than the world average, according to UN figures. Officials have not said how much money they made off with. Military police officers carry a bag filled with money left behind by armed bank robbers, in Criciuma, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. More than two dozen men arrived in a convoy of vehicles, sealed off roads around a bank branch and held hostages in the streets to discourage police from intervening. They used people as human shields while they detonated explosives at a bank, sending a plume of bills flying into the air, and shot at an overwhelmed police force. Related articles. There are several drug trafficking gangs in Brazil that have carried out sophisticated robberies, but the authorities did not point to any of them as suspects. @RdGauchapic.twitter.com/jvUFVVEaHV. Heavily-armed bank robbers launch ‘MAJOR ASSAULT’ on city in Brazil, before locals swoop in to pick up leftover cash (VIDEOS) 1 Dec, 2020 15:23 Get short URL Piles of banknotes lay scattered around the city after the robbery, which were eagerly scooped up by opportunistic locals. news.com.au December 2, 2020 4:38pm. He said the assault reminded him of scenes from the film Money Heist, the Spanish crime drama that follows robbers carrying out elaborate heists. Brazil bank heist: Armed gang mount ... December 1: People take money scattered on the floor after a mega robbery in the city of Criciúma - Brazil. Mayor broadcasts urgent warning from home as 'well-prepared' robbers seize Brazilian city, loot bank. “We were just praying that it would end.”. “All the police forces in the state of Santa Catarina are working jointly to track down information and identify the perpetrators of this crime,” Paulo Koerich, the chief of the civil police in the state, said in a statement. ... Brazil bank robbers dig 600-meter tunnel in Sao Paulo. Published 1 December 2020. Share this story! Military police carry a bag filled with money left behind by armed bank robbers in Criciuma. “The operation was successful for the criminals, that’s the truth,” Santa Catarina governor Carlos Moisés da Silva said. The audacious attack on Criciúma was the latest in Brazil to target a relatively small city with poor defenses, where security analysts say they have good odds of overpowering and dodging security forces that deal mainly with petty crime. Ms. Bueno said it was striking how police officials were unable to stop the attack. Law enforcement officials said investigators from across Santa Catarina, neighboring states and the federal government had been mobilized to search for the gunmen. Clips shared on video platform TikTok purportedly showed a hole blown out of the bank’s vault, as lookouts guarded the streets and rooftops. The purpose to rob the local Banco do Brasil branch. Photos also appeared to show people being taken away in pickup trucks. They stand out even in a country with some of the highest crime and homicide rates in the world, where bank robberies are hardly uncommon. “It was pretty terrifying,” said Gustavo Inacio, 21, adding that the assault had been concentrated in the central parts of the city. Section BBC News. Bank Robbery Like ‘Money Heist’ Executed By Thieves In Brazil During the attack, two people were shot, including one hostage, a young man, who was killed. Daniel Freitas, a congressman who lives near the bank that was attacked, said he assumed the bursts that awoke him and his family were fireworks. Font Size: Heavily armed bank robbers in Brazil invaded Cameta while taking residents hostage and looting a bank, The Los Angeles Times reported. A bank robbery occurred in Brazil, armed robbers fought fiercely with the police 2020-12-01T22:48:10.076Z More than 30 masked militants broke into a local house The bank's vault was robbed and the crime lasted about 1 hour and 45 m Ernesto Londoño reported from Rio de Janeiro, Livia Albeck-Ripka from Melbourne, Australia, and Elian Peltier from London. 'Significant milestone': UK hits target to vaccinate 15 million most at risk from coronavirus In this latest assault, analysts said a team of roughly 30 gunmen arrived in a convoy of 10 vehicles from outside the state, Santa Catarina, and had planned the operation meticulously. “It’s curious to see how unprepared the security forces were to deal with this incident,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep out of fear that they would come to the other neighborhoods.”. Military police officers carry a bag filled with money left behind by armed bank robbers, in Criciuma, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. Dozens of criminals armed with assault rifles invaded a city in southern Brazil overnight and took control of the streets as they launched an assault against a local bank branch. Samira Bueno, the executive director at the Brazilian Forum of Public Safety, noted that the Criciúma attack was one in a string of brazen assaults on banks in recent years that appear to be ripped from “the scene of a movie.”. Brazilian bank robbers leave cash strewn across the streets to aid their getaway as residents rush to pick it up after spectacular raids on four banks across city. pic.twitter.com/ODA3g7CgqG. Police officials in Santa Catarina said the gunmen opened fire outside the 9th battalion of the military police, which oversees security in the city, before heading downtown and taking aim at the local branch of the Bank of Brazil. The heist lasted more than an hour, and bouts of gunfire echoed over the city. The attack is the second in two days, marking an escalation in the scale and scope of bank robberies. Police officers inspect the scene of a bank robbery in Criciuma, Brazil where a group of 30 heavily armed criminals entered a bank. So, for those just waking up, the town of Criciúma in #Brasil was besieged last night starting around midnight. the public security secretariat of Pará confirmed on Twitter, the highest crime and homicide rates in the world, grabbing what appeared to be cash off the streets. Video from residents that was broadcast on the Globo television network showed hooded men dressed in black walking the streets of Criciúma, in the state of Santa Catarina, and locals being held hostage. pic.twitter.com/pwQYj2PrP3. Local news reports described them as a human shield that prevented police vehicles from reaching the bank. The gunfire left a security guard and a police officer wounded. A burnt-out truck blocks the military police battalion station, placed there by a gang that robbed a Banco do Brasil (Brazil Bank) in Criciuma, Santa Catarina state, Brazil, December 1, 2020. Related. Brazil Shooting Bank Robbery Cash Viral stories. Bruno Adriano Della, a 20-year-old resident, said he had been woken up by gunfire. Guilherme Haun/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images. Bank Robbers in Brazil Terrorize a Sleepy City, Overpowering Police. GloboNews reported that some barracks of the Military Police in Pará had also been attacked. At street level, groups of hostages blocked the roads, apparently as human barriers to prevent police from getting to the scene. Centro de Criciúma agora! pic.twitter.com/ZVglH4Wmhj. By the time the thieves fled, Salvaro told a local radio station that four sites had been looted, and that the criminals made off in a convoy of cars.