How Four of the Most Notorious Heists Were Pulled Off

There are certain types of crime that have always fascinated me. Take heists for instance! I’ve always been fascinated by how some have been pulled off sometimes even under the most secure state of the art security! It must take a criminal mastermind to pull off “the perfect crime”!

Imagine pulling off the perfect heist to steal precious jewels or cold hard cash and over valuables worth millions!

Of course, pulling off a successful heist is not so smooth and effortless as the movies portray it. To do so, it must be well planned down to the most miniscule detail. Nothing can go amiss or it will jeopardize the whole plan.

Throughout history, worldwide, some of the most notorious heists of cash, jewels, and other valuables have been successfully pulled off.

The Brinks Mat Robbery (November 26, 1983)

Location: London, U.K.

The Brink’s Mat Robbery has been, thus far, the U.K’s largest gold heist and easily one of the most savage. That it was an inside job also played a huge factor in its success.

Six South London gang members broke into and robbed the Brinks Mat Warehouse at the Heathrow International Trading Estate in London. This heist was lead by gang members Brian Robinson and Mickey McAvoy.

Perhaps the Brinks Mat Robbery would not have been successful if it had not been for the aid of Brinks Mat security guard, Anthony Black, who offered inside help with the heist.

Once the robbers gained access to the warehouse thanks to Black, they overtook the security guards and threatened them with petrol and lighting them on fire if they did not comply and give them the safe combination.

For added reassurance that the heist would be uninterrupted, the electronic security systems were disarmed thanks to Black.

As with many incidences, sometimes heists don’t go exactly as planned. In this case, it was a change that was even better for the criminals. Or maybe not exactly!

The criminals had expectations of stealing cold hard cash. What was expected to be an easy transport of stolen goods turned out to be far more complicated. Instead, they were looking at 6,800 gold bars and diamonds both cut and uncut worth £100,000. 😮😮😮

Transportation of the gold and diamonds would be incredibly difficult and not to mention risky.

An abrupt change of plans had the robbers resort to using a forklift truck to haul away the gold into a waiting getaway fan. Doing so must have been absolutely nerve wracking as they got far more than they bargained for!

It is estimated that 15 people total were involved in the Brinks Mat Robbery.

McAvoy and Robinson served 25 years in prison while Anthony Black, the security guard that offered inside help served 6 years. McAvoy and Robinson were the only gang members out of the six that were ever convicted.

Just as astounding as the heist itself is the mystery of what happened to the stolen goods after forty years. Approximately 10 million pounds (or 43 million pounds today) remains unaccounted for.

United California Bank Heist (March 24, 1972)

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

This was one of the most well planned heists in U.S. history. Premeditated months in advance, the heist to break into the United California Bank vault was pulled off over a course of several days.

Amil Dinsio, criminal mastermind behind the United California Bank heist, received word from Jimmy Hoffa himself that there was $30 million sealed inside a safe deposit box located at the Laguna Niguel bank in California.

Even former president Richard Nixon was involved. Not in the heist itself but because the Laguna Niguel bank was one of the places he hid campaign contributions which were extorted.

This notorious heist of superb planning involved Amil Dinsio and his accomplices: brother James Dinsio, his nephew Harry Barber, his brother in law Chuck Mulligan, his friend Phil Christopher, and already successful thief Charlie Broeckel.

How the heist was pulled off sounds a little like something out of a Mission Impossible movie. First, a condo with an easy view of the bank was rented (likely as a means to stake the bank out). Next, the plan was to tunnel through the bank’s roof and into the vault concealing the $30 million.

It was all planned out all the way down to the get away car which was designed to conceal any tools used in the heist inside the trunk so as not to raise any suspicions.

The criminals boldly returned time and again to collect even more of the goods over the course that the bank was closed over the weekend.

Of course, like many overconfident and arrogant criminals are likely to do, stupid mistakes were eventually made.

It has become one of the United State’s largest federal investigations.

Pierre Hotel Robbery (January 2, 1972)

Location: New York City, New York

This heist is one of the most well known and successful robberies in history and also one that has particularly intrigued me.

The day after New Years of 1972, the unthinkable happened at the Pierre Hotel on Manhattan in New York City. The luxurious Pierre Hotel was held up by eight men. Just like the United California Bank heist, the robbery of the Pierre Hotel was superbly planned (perhaps even more so!) months and months in advance, all the way down to the most miniscule details.

Planning involved the most careful attention to everything that went inside the hotel from paying attention to security measures and finding any possible flaws, observing the guests and staff of the hotel, and learning the hotel’s lay out.

The criminal masterminds behind the Pierre Hotel robbery, Samuel Nalo and Robert Comfort were not your amateur criminals on a spur of the moment robbery! They’ve had a great deal of experience with past heists and robberies.

After staking the hotel out and observing the daily activities of the hotel workers and guests, the first step was to get inside. And that required a reservation.

One of the robbers arrived at the Pierre hotel in style via limousine and identified themselves as being part of a Dr. Foster’s party. The moment, the security guard gave them access into the hotel, Nalo, Comfort, and their accomplices over took the guard at gunpoint. Next, they had one of them watch the front entrance.

To make absolutely certain that their heist would go on without any trouble, the thieves held hostage every single person they encountered: security guards, hotel staff, even any unfortunate hotel guests who just happened to be there! Can you imagine being a hotel guest at that time?!

The thieves went as far as having one of them answer the phone for any guests that might request something from the front desk and fulfilling their request. They even came prepared for such an event that they would have quite a number of hostages! They ended up with nineteen hostages.

After breaking into the safety deposit boxes that held millions upon millions worth of valuables, the thieves finally ended their criminal stay at the hotel at 6:30 a.m.

Amazingly and quite likely all due to careful planning, the thieves were able to leave the hotel, the heist successful, with $3 million (or $27 million today) worth of stolen valuables.

The Antwerp Diamond Heist ( February 16, 2003)

Location: Antwerp, Belgium

Do you like diamonds? How about $100 million dollars worth?

Considered impossible, the Antwerp Diamond Heist has been one of the largest and well known diamond heists ever committed. And also the most baffling! How was it possible that such criminals were able to get past multiple levels of the highest security and steal $100 million dollars worth of diamonds?

Planning. Careful and articulate planning. As proven by the previous heists mentioned, a successful heist requires careful planning. Even the most insignificant detail cannot be overlooked. Oh! And some inside help wouldn’t hurt either.

Leonardo Notarbatolo was very familiar with the layout of the diamond vaults.

Part of the plan involved taking pictures of the heavily secure vaults to better understand and study the security system.

The thieves had to get past not one, not two, but ten layers of security. And they outsmarted every single one. Wait! How is that possible?!

A few things they did to outsmart the security system was by removing the plastic off sensor circuit wires and tricking the magnetic field with aluminum.

Now that they bypassed every level of security, a feat deemed impossible, the thieves spent two hours collecting their $3 million dollars worth of diamonds and other jewelry.

This heist in particular really makes one think about the whereabouts of the stolen diamonds. Even though the majority of the criminals have been caught, all those diamonds, gold, silver, and other valuable jewelry stolen from the Antwerp Diamond Center were never recovered.

Is it possible that some eventually found their way into a jeweler’s shop? Could some of the stolen goods still be floating around somewhere?

As we have discovered with every one of these heists, pulling off the “perfect heist” requires extremely careful planning and maybe some inside help too.