The Brazilians are already calling it the Hollywood Robbery, Nicole Veash reports. Fourteen men have disappeared somewhere in the Amazon jungle with nearly 700 lb of gold bullion and a stolen aircraft.
Armed with machineguns, the team carried out a movie-style robbery on the tarmac of Carajas airport, 1,300 miles north-west of Rio de Janeiro. They struck just as the twin-engined aircraft was being loaded with gold bullion.
After overpowering airport security, the men took the pilot, co-pilot and two security guards hostage. Police radar tracked the stolen aircraft as far as the remote Amazonian jungle town of Sao Felix do Xingu, where they released the hostages and flew off in a waiting plane.