This is the shocking moment locals rushed to pick up piles of bank notes after a gang torched a van they had used to steal cash in a daring heist at a Colombian airport.
A gang stormed the runway at Almirante Padilla International Airport in the city of Riohacha yesterday, where bags of cash were being loaded on to a flight from an armoured truck.
At least 12 suspects arrived with guns blazing in two SUVs before intercepting the truck where it was stationed on the tarmac next to a LATAM Airlines flight to the country’s capital Bogotá.
They managed to flee the north Colombian airport after a shootout with security guards, breaking through a fence and escaping to the highway next to the runway.
Eventually reaching a village, home to an indigenous community, the gang set fire to one of their vehicles, with one bag of banknotes still inside it – possibly to distract authorities, according to BNO News.
Surreal footage shows locals digging through the piles of burned banknotes on the ground for usable ones.
The armed gang reportedly stole at least 24 bags of cash – four of which have since been recovered.
The authorities have arrested two suspects – but investigations are ongoing. The armed robbery saw airport authorities suspend operations for several hours.
Of the moment the gang stormed the runway in their Toyota Land Cruiser Prado SUVs, one passenger, a Cuban tourist said: ‘They arrived shooting.’
‘Passengers dropped to the floor. There were babies there.’
The robbery happened in full view of passengers – some on board planes and others waiting in the terminal – who quickly became panicked.
While escaping on to National Route 90, which runs the length of the north Colombian coast, the gangsters poured oil on the tarmac to slip up the police motorcycles chasing them.
Secretary of the Riohacha district government, Wilson Rojas, said the suspects ‘took advantage of a security guard’s departure before driving through the gate’.
He added: ‘They positioned themselves where the armoured truck, which had already delivered the bags, was.
‘They robbed the vehicle and escaped on the highway on the opposite side of the runway.’
Once they reached the village, the gang stole a car to continue their escape.
The two captured suspects were caught during a manhunt along the length of the highway, according to initial reports from Colombian media.
The gangsters made off with an as yet unknown value of cash.
