Gang armed with assault rifles attacks ambassadorial convoy, netting an estimated haul of €250,000
A spectacular heist took place yesterday evening in the northern outskirts of Paris. Saudi nationals on their way to Le Bourget Airport were the targets of an armed paramilitary group. The attackers left their victims by the side of the road and sped off in their car which contained a large sum of money. According to initial reports, it was a very specifically targeted attack, led by a group of eight well-trained assailants who clearly knew what they were doing.
It all happened at about 21:15 local time. The raiders, armed with assault rifles, were driving on the north périphérique (ring road), travelling in two cars. They were following a convoy from the Embassy of Saudi Arabia containing several vehicles, which was on its way to Le Bourget Airport.
At the Porte de la Chapelle exit leading to the A1 motorway, the raiders forced one of the vehicles in the Saudi convoy to stop. The vehicle in question wasn’t just any one of them. The Mercedes people-carrier selected from the herd by the pre-informed raiders contained €250,000 in cash, as well as “important documentation”, according to the victims. Without firing a single shot, the bandits took the wheel of the people-carrier. A little further on, they released the driver and the two passengers before continuing their journey in the cash-rich car.
Nobody was injured. The cars that the gang had been driving were found burned out a little later in the evening. The anti-banditry unit of the Police Judiciaire the BRB (Brigade Répression du Banditisme) is charged with handling the case.
The incident will surely represent something of an embarrassment for the security image of Paris, particularly considering the number of Middle Eastern nationals travel regularly carrying large sums of money.