Commando assault and fierce shooting at the Santiago de Chile airport: two dead

A group of criminals tried to steal a cash truck from Miami with 32 million dollars and had a shootout with the police on the runway.

Movie scenes were experienced this Wednesday morning on the runway of the Santiago de Chile Airport, the main airport in the trans-Andean country. It was when a commando group made up of about twelve criminals tried to rob a truck with 32 million dollars in cash from Miami and clashed in a fierce shootout with the police. There were two deaths.

The violent episode occurred around 8:00 a.m., when the heavily armed assailants arrived in three trucks to the W sector of the air terminal and broke down a gate with the intention of stealing the cargo from a cash truck. They were 32 million dollars that had arrived on a Latam flight from Miami.

That money was going to be transferred to a Brink’s company truck, to be later transferred to different banking entities.

To achieve this and circumvent security, the criminals would have presented apparently forged credentials. Then, they overpowered a guard and stole his firearm. Immediately afterwards, they went to an unloading terminal. However, personnel from the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics – in charge of the security of the enclosure – warned of the maneuver.

Investigative police inspect one of the bodies lying on the runway. Photo: Reuters

At that moment, a fierce firefight began with the criminals next to several parked planes. Part of the sequence was recorded in a video taken by passengers and airport workers.

As a result of the intense exchange of shots, a DGAC official, identified as Claudio Villar Rodríguez and a firefighter from La Cisterna, lost his life. The other fatal victim was one of the assailants. His accomplices managed to escape.

In the escape, they left burnt-out vehicles on the escape route. One of the members of the group was even seen wearing a uniform similar to that used by the DGAC. Meanwhile, the authorities assured that they could not take the money from the truck.

Investigative police inspect one of the bodies lying on the runway. Photo: Reuters

While the corresponding expertise was being carried out at the scene, by the chief prosecutor of Pudahuel Eduardo Baeza, both the Carabineros and the Investigative Police began an extensive operation to find the criminals.

In this sense, the Undersecretary of the Interior Manuel Monsalve indicated that two suspects were identified and their relationship with the event was being investigated. In addition, he explained that the criminals carried automatic weapons.

For its part, Brink’s – the security company to which the truck belonged – said in a statement that its workers “followed all security protocols in the face of the assault and, fortunately, all of them were unharmed.”

“We believe that it is urgent to create a public-private work group that directly includes value transport companies, which can contribute with their experience in assessing risks and designing measures that increase security levels, above all, for the benefit of the people,” he added.

Gabriel Boric’s reaction

President Gabriel Boric was in the middle of an act for Women’s Day in La Moneda when he was notified of the commando coup at the Santiago airport.

“I want to express my solidarity and send a big hug to the family of the DGAC official. We know that security is a priority for Chilean men and women, and when there is insecurity all the rest staggers,” he said.

The money arrived in Chile on a Latam flight from Miami. Photo: Reuters

“This assault could be frustrated, but at a very high cost, the cost of human life,” he lamented. And he concluded: “From our government we are going to pursue tirelessly, with justice and with all the force of the law, crime and those who put the lives of our compatriots at risk.”

Citizen surveys have been revealing a worrying rise in the perception of insecurity in Chilean society for months.

The Paz Ciudadana Foundation published last October that the fear of being a victim of a crime grew by 7.6%, reaching 28% nationwide, the highest figure in 22 years.