BRITAIN: Armed police arrested seven men yesterday after foiling an attempted gold heist at Heathrow airport which would have been one of Britain's biggest robberies. The men drove a van through steel shutters into a warehouse and threatened staff with guns and knives.
Police said the gang's target was £40 million (€59m) worth of gold bullion and up to the same amount again in cash. But more than 100 police officers were lying in wait after a tip-off.
"In preventing this attack, we have foiled what would have been one of the biggest robberies ever committed in the UK," said Det Supt Barry Phillips, from Scotland Yard's Flying Squad that headed the operation.
Police fired special rounds, used to deflate tyres, to disable the gang's van. One officer suffered minor injuries.
Six men were arrested at the warehouse but two escaped by forcing a worker to drive them away in a hijacked van. One of these men has since been arrested and the other is still on the run.
Heathrow was the scene of what remains Britain's biggest gold robbery - the 1983 raid on a Brinks Mat warehouse.
In that raid, a six-strong masked gang escaped with £26 million in gold and diamonds. However, they were all eventually caught.