A spectacular coup has succeeded gangsters in berlin. Just like in the movies, they entered a bank branch through a 30-meter tunnel and robbed numerous safe deposit boxes there. According to initial findings, the unknown perpetrators dug the tunnel themselves, as the police announced on monday. The tunnel began with a break-through in an underground garage behind the bank, a police spokeswoman confirmed to the dpa news agency. "It was professionally set up," she said.
Police are certain that a tunnel like this cannot be dug in one night. Presumably the crime was planned for a long time. The construction could have taken days or weeks. In the night to monday, the burglars apparently managed to break through into the bank’s premises. There, the perpetrators robbed private schliebfachers, as the spokeswoman said. They were able to flee undetected with the loot – how much money the gang took was initially unclear.
The burglary was discovered early monday morning by a roundabout route. "A resident noticed around 6.Smoke in the underground car park," said the spokeswoman. The alarmed security forces then discovered the breakthrough in the garage. The perpetrators presumably set the fire to cover their tracks.
In the underground parking garage, there are individual parking spaces that are separated by roller doors and therefore cannot be seen from the outside. From there, the perpetrators were apparently able to dig and build undisturbed.
The gutburg district of steglitz-zehlendorf in west berlin has repeatedly been the scene of spectacular bank robberies and hostage takings. Only in december – shortly before christmas – a man had robbed a bank there. He held an employee as a hostage for nine hours before the police persuaded him to give up.
Also a tunnel dug gangsters there not for the first time. In june 1995, four robbers entered a bank in zehlendorf through a tunnel they had dug themselves and took 16 hostages. Just before police stormed the building, the so-called tunnel robbers fled with their loot through the pipes. This time, the perpetrators were smarter – they disappeared with their loot without hostage-taking and an acute police alert.
When there are no robbers around, the schlossstrabe in berlin-steglitz is a good place for a stroll. There are numerous shops and shopping centers waiting for visitors and customers. The bank branch at the corner of wrangelstrabe remained closed at least on monday. Police officers and forensic experts secured traces there.