This is one of the biggest loot since Toni Musulin's "heist of the century" in 2009: nine million euros were stolen in the attack on a van of the Loomis company on Friday in Lyon, which did not injured no one but left carriers "extremely shocked". "The damage amounts to nine million euros," said the prosecution, confirming a figure announced by RTL radio.
The armored van of the cash transport company was attacked by several armed people around 9 a.m. this Friday when it left a branch of the Banque de France, in the 7th arrondissement of Lyon.
No injuries to deplore
“The criminals managed to immediately flee after the commission of these facts. No injuries are to be deplored, ”adds the Lyon prosecutor. The firefighters only intervened with the van set on fire by the criminals.
An investigation was opened for theft with an organized gang weapon, entrusted to the specialized interregional jurisdiction of Lyon, in charge of cases relating to serious crime, and to the judicial police.
According to the regional daily Le Progrès, the van was blocked by two utilities located in front of and behind it. The robbers threatened the conveyors to seize the load before fleeing in two other vehicles found on fire south of the city.
A "daring attack"
"What surprised us a little is that it is a daring attack, in the middle of the city," said Michel Tresch, CEO of Loomis France. Friday's robbery "reminds us that Loomis' job is a risky job." “The main thing is that the conveyors are safe and sound,” he added. “Three colleagues are extremely shocked,” added Kader Bengueche, CGT Loomis delegate. Monday, they will be received by a psychologist of the company in order to "be able to absorb this moral shock".
The trade unionist also called for the opening of an internal investigation. The carriers follow "training quite extensive to escape ambush (...) and here, what is particular, is that they opened the door to robbers", he stressed. "From what I understand, not all were necessarily familiar with the exercise of the transport of funds in the Bank of France", exercise "which requires a certain dexterity", he added.
A famous precedent a Lyon
This loot in banknotes is the most important in France since the theft of a van, already in Lyon, in 2009 committed by one of its conveyors remained famous, Toni Musulin: it had vanished with 11.6 million euros, including 9.1 million later found in a box he had rented.
It was already a vehicle of the Loomis company, regularly targeted by robbers, in particular in the Lyon region. In May 2017, the judicial police arrested in Haute-Savoie seven thugs from the Lyon region returning from a robbery of a Loomis van committed in Switzerland, with colossal loot: 35 million euros (mostly banknotes of different currencies, but also diamonds and gold bars) were then found.
In December 2016, at least four criminals had stolen 70 kg of gold powder, with a market value of 2.5 million euros, during the robbery of a van of the same company in Dardilly, near Lyon. Loomis has also suffered attacks in other areas.
"A very large drop in this type of attack"
In March 2020, the multirecidivist robber Redoine Faïd was sentenced on appeal to 28 years imprisonment for the explosive attack on a company van in Pas-de-Calais in 2011, the loot of which was two millions of euros. In 2013, seven million euros in cash were stolen during a robbery of a Loomis van near Rouen.
Friday, the CEO of Loomis France, however, assured that there had been "a very large drop in this type of attack", in comparison with the 2000s. Today, "it is much easier to make attacks (on the Internet) via hackers, than attacking an armored vehicle, it's not the same degree of exposure, ”he noted.
Miscellaneous
Lyon: A robbed armored van, a colossal loot embarked by the criminals
Miscellaneous
Saint-Etienne: The cash conveyor strike continues at Loomis
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