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Green-Cruiser t1_it9a1g7 wrote

The 2005 Banco Central burglary in Fortaleza, Brazil, was once recognised by Guinness Book of World Records as the world's greatest bank robbery.

To pull it off, a 25-member gang set up a fake landscaping business. They spent three months digging a 256-foot tunnel that led up through the bank's vault floor.

Once inside, they stole several containers that held 160 million Brazilian reals. Only eight people were arrested, and just 20 million real was recovered.

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AtraposJM t1_itdqi2d wrote

Damn, I googled the dates to see if The Room was made after that. No dice, 2003.

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IBeTrippin t1_it96udo wrote

Would be awesome if they also sold the dirt.

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LastMinuteChange t1_it9aeg1 wrote

Gimme a number and lemme see what I can do, I got a family of ants already interested in this mound - Dirt Salesman

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designer_of_drugs t1_itbcz43 wrote

You laugh, but I’m literally in the market for a large pile of nice dirt.

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Talexis t1_itbwes2 wrote

People vastly underestimate the value of fill dirt.

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mandatory6 t1_itbk6on wrote

Best I can do is a few rocks for that pile of dirt

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isleepinahammock t1_itb196y wrote

Nah, to really do it right, the dirt should have been used for some second major heist, this one requiring a large amount of dirt. For example, maybe constructing a large earthen ramp against a prison yard wall, in an elaborate attempt at freeing a partner of theirs.

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boilerpl8 t1_itag0eg wrote

For like an extra 10,000 on top of the 80 million? Why bother?

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Nokneemouse t1_itaug3w wrote

They may have needed some cash to keep the operation going before the big payday.

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Alan_Smithee_ t1_itb13o1 wrote

And after. You don’t want to go spending right after, if you’re not laundering the money…which you obviously should.

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Nijajjuiy88 t1_itbmgbc wrote

Okay so open another laundry business so they can launder money there and neighbours would assume it is business related.

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RigasTelRuun t1_itbcqxm wrote

Thats how you launder it. You legit sell the dirt. But report it to the IRS as a cash sale of 80 million. Bam. Free and clear, baby.

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Nijajjuiy88 t1_itbmi6w wrote

Free and clear for a very short period of time. As always read the fine print.,

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Falsus t1_ito3irc wrote

To pay for the thing before they get the money? Also it would be a hell lot cleaner money than the bank money. They didn't exactly want to use that money when they went to go grocery shopping.

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cjlutera t1_itbyiwv wrote

Yea but your opening up a trail of people to do business with who have seen your face.

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GDH907 t1_itcw9a8 wrote

The backstop on this heist is even better. The mastermind had escaped from prison and spent like 9 months orchestrating this plan. The group was never caught!

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AnthillOmbudsman t1_it9kw9l wrote

I got a better idea. First we get a job working at the bank. Doesn't matter the position as long as we get in there. Then we just go in there for twenty, thirty years, and gain their trust while they deposit the money.

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DaveOJ12 t1_it9sk7v wrote

Mofo, that's called a job!

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ElectricMicah t1_itbbtml wrote

What movie is this from? I recognize it.

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mclms1 t1_it9it8w wrote

Its amazing what you can get away with wearing an orange vest , hard hat and holding a clip board.

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jakebbt t1_it9npzr wrote

It's like the YouTube video of people carrying a ladder and getting in to random places. The biggest secret is to look and act like you belong.

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sybrwookie t1_itbl147 wrote

I've used the "act like you belong" strategy many, many times throughout life to get into places I shouldn't have. Act like you belong, walk at a good pace, don't look around like you're figuring out where to go, and keep going in the right direction.

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The_Foxxx_King t1_itawlk3 wrote

The world's cheapest and smallest disguise is a white rag in the back pocket of your pants.

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mclms1 t1_it9zvwq wrote

Add a white work van and you have the whole package.

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clackz1231 t1_itbmt2v wrote

I never realized how true this was... at my work there are constantly new contractors roaming around that I wouldn't think twice about

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dromni t1_it9duk4 wrote

There's a documentary about that in Netflix.

The title in English is a bit misleading, as it makes it sound that there's one building of the Central Bank of Brazil but in fact it has many branches in many cities; that one was in Fortaleza. It's kind of like the US Federal Reserve.

By the way the original title is "3 Tonelada$" ("3 Tonne$"), in reference to how much the money weighted.

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mlqdscrvn t1_it99sda wrote

With the money, they should establish an underground railroad company.

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Smokron85 t1_it9t1sa wrote

Nah legitimate landscaping companies lol

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isleepinahammock t1_itb1f8x wrote

And make a point of doing landscaping right near major banks and government buildings! So the police are always watching, befuddled as they try in vain to figure out what dastardly plot you're running.

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vine_was_overrated t1_it9pdgx wrote

If they named the landscaping company “the red headed leaves” it would have been the perfect nod to the Sherlock Holmes story

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The_Skippy73 t1_it95v4e wrote

And it was business related !

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Battlescarred98 t1_itamzx8 wrote

That was the plot of Short Circuit 2. The bad guys were tricking Jonny 5 into digging an tunnel into a nearby bank, by pretending they were friends and were helping.

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SuicidalGuidedog t1_ita1kwg wrote

And ya'll think Colin Furze is just a YouTuber. He's basically just doing educational videos for criminals.

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isleepinahammock t1_itb1wuy wrote

Watching Colin Furze is like watching the real-time development of a supervillain. Like, imagine the 15 minutes of a movie that documents the life story of a supervillain, and expand that into a multi-year YouTube channel. That's Colin Furze.

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GratefulPhish42024-7 t1_it98l73 wrote

Did they get away with it?

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gNomad88 t1_it9l2vv wrote

70% of the 25 men got away with it. The others who were caught never said a word about the other guys. Legends

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mattheimlich t1_ita7tyj wrote

8 people were caught of 25 and they recovered 1/8 of the stolen cash.

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TUGrad t1_itag92l wrote

Police reported that they only recovered 1/8 of the stolen cash.

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Geek55 t1_itayvr4 wrote

Such a shame they only managed to recover 1/10th of the cash

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sybrwookie t1_itblhf6 wrote

I mean, it could be worse, at least they got that 1/12 of the cash!

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Evan10100 t1_it9aaz3 wrote

If we're hearing about it, the chances are, probably not.

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Holy_Grapes t1_itaq50f wrote

More of less like the Carrero Blanco car bombing: Spanish prime minister took always the same path at the same time. Terrorists rented a house, they digged and put a bomb in the middle of the street and this way Spain had its first astronaut.

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RealDanStaines t1_ita7hx9 wrote

Sherlock Holmes and The Red Headed League shit fr

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keetojm t1_it9n93i wrote

Did they watch “the ladykillers”? And it worked?

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GGtesla t1_itau27g wrote

Im surprised they had the Capitol for equipment and whatever space they were using im assuming was in a city had no one looking after it? Like was there an empty investment property next door or did they rent it and start going to town

Either way respect for the hustle

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Only_Contribution_70 t1_it97tz6 wrote

vanloads?

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cutelyaware t1_it9mwvi wrote

You know a better way to move dirt? And if you don't carry a passenger, you can use that space too!

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Only_Contribution_70 t1_it9p85c wrote

like a van van, like a family minivan with the sliding door?

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InappropriateTA t1_itafcna wrote

People usually don’t mean minivan when they say van in this context. They typically mean a work/utility van like a Ford Econoline or Chevy Express, or a full cargo van like a Ford Transit.

I don’t know about that other comment, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a pickup truck (a light-duty truck with an open bed) called a van.

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Full_Temperature_920 t1_it9t4mp wrote

What the rest of the world calls "Van" America calls "pickup truck" if that makes things any clearer for you

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Only_Contribution_70 t1_it9td8y wrote

the rest of the world calls pickup trucks, vans?

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syzygyly t1_ita9ult wrote

this thread has more vans than a 90s skate park

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I_lenny_face_you t1_itasq86 wrote

slaps top of thread

This baby has so many vans in it, which in turn can fit so much dirt in them

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Nokneemouse t1_itaulk6 wrote

No, we don't. A van is a fully enclosed vehicle almost anywhere, never with a tray.

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Roach_the_Monk t1_it9sl6r wrote

If the neighbors see you? Just smile and wave, boys.

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nstc2504 t1_it9tniz wrote

Basically the same plot as Short Circuit 2

Los lobos stepping up their game!!

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jiggliebilly t1_ita5617 wrote

This is the 'Great Escape' sequel I never knew I wanted

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Treesaregreen2 t1_it9w7sd wrote

Is this the same story from the duolingo podcast?

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MagicSPA t1_itbco1g wrote

That is just genius.

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cenataur t1_itcwcwh wrote

'The Great Robbery of Brazil’s Central Bank' on Netflix.

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DefiantStomp t1_it9s8qr wrote

Nice to see Brazilians can mind their own business... RIGHT BRITTANY?!

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dbeards t1_it9asox wrote

I don’t know much about tunnel digging, but it feels like the engineering know-how and equipment required to pull that feat off would probably cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $71.6 million.

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Good_nuff t1_it9cqke wrote

It was a 2.3 ft square 264 ft long tunnel. Prisoners of war have done that shit without real tools. And it doesn’t cost $71.6 mil to rent a small building.

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AnthillOmbudsman t1_it9l0m1 wrote

*sound of Redditors getting out tape measures to see if they'd fit in there*

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RockItGuyDC t1_it9kx0x wrote

You're a government contractor, aren't you? Must be if you're quoting number like that.

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dromni t1_it9e94s wrote

As you can see in the Netflix documentary (see my other comment) the tunnel was pretty narrow and excavated by hand. It wasn't like in that Top Secret scene.

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2wedfgdfgfgfg t1_it9xx3o wrote

They got Charles Bronson to do most of the heavy digging.

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