A highly organized gang utilized the quiet of the Christmas holiday to execute a “Hollywood-style” heist in western Germany, drilling through a concrete wall to loot thousands of safe deposit boxes.
German police are hunting a professional gang of thieves who stole an estimated €30 million ($33 million) in cash, gold, and jewelry from a Sparkasse bank branch in Gelsenkirchen. The heist, which investigators have compared to the film Ocean’s Eleven, involved drilling through a wall from an adjacent underground parking garage directly into the bank’s secure vault. The crime was only discovered in the early hours of Monday (December 29) after a fire alarm, possibly triggered by drilling dust or heat, alerted emergency services.
The operation appears to have been planned with incredible precision, taking advantage of the extended holiday closure in Germany that began December 24.
- The Breach: Suspects entered a parking garage next to the bank and used a powerful industrial drill to breach the basement vault wall.
- The Looting: Once inside, the gang systematically broke into more than 3,000 safe deposit boxes, over 95% of the total lockers at the branch.
- The Timeline: Witnesses reported seeing several men carrying large, heavy bags in the parking garage stairwell between Saturday night and Sunday morning.
- The Escape: CCTV footage captured a black Audi RS 6 fleeing the garage at around 4:00 AM on Monday, just as the fire alarm went off. The vehicle had license plates stolen earlier from the city of Hanover.
“This was indeed very professionally executed,” a police spokesperson told reporters, noting the suspects likely spent much of the weekend inside the vault. “A great deal of prior knowledge and criminal energy was involved to plan and carry this out.”
The bank stayed closed Tuesday and Wednesday (December 31) because of security concerns after threats were made against staff by upset customers. Hundreds of victims gathered outside the branch, many in tears, as they realized their life savings, often stored in gold or cash exceeding the €10,300 insurance limit per box, had vanished.
Forensic teams are currently analyzing the vault for DNA and tool-mark evidence, though the “clean” nature of the site suggests the perpetrators had a high level of forensic awareness. Gelsenkirchen Police have set up a dedicated hotline for the 2,700 affected customers to register their losses, though officials admit the chances of recovering the stolen gold and cash are low.
This heist is being recorded as one of the largest bank robberies in modern German history. It follows a similar 2024 incident where thieves tunneled into a Berlin bank, highlighting a growing trend of “drilling and tunneling” heists targeting European savings banks during major holidays when staffing is at its lowest.
With the suspects still at large and the black Audi last seen heading toward the A42 motorway, the investigation has expanded nationwide. Police are asking for any dashcam footage from the Gelsenkirchen-Buer area recorded between December 25 and December 29.
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