Thieves tunneled into a bank in northeastern Brazil and stole $68 million, the biggest bank heist in the nation's history, police said on Monday.

"It's something you see in the movies. They dug a tunnel ... that goes underneath two (city) blocks. They've been digging for three months," police investigator Francisco Queiroga told Reuters by telephone.

The thieves broke into a branch of the central bank in the northeastern state of Ceara over the weekend and removed 156 million reais ($68 million).

The theft was not discovered until Monday morning because the bank was closed.

"The tunnel was dug right underneath the vault," Queiroga said. "We've never heard of so much money being stolen from a bank in Brazil."

Queiroga and the central bank said the tunnel was 200 meters (650 feet) long, but federal police who took over the case from local investigators said in a statement later it measured 80 meters (260 feet).

The tunnel, which started in a house rented by the gang, was reinforced with wood and plastic and had electric light.

Police said the thieves had perforated the concrete floor of the vault to get in, but motion sensors inside did not go off.

Federal police also said it was the biggest known heist in Brazil. They suspect that between six and 10 people did the job.

It exceeds the amount stolen by Britain's "Great Train Robber" Ronnie Biggs, who fled to Brazil and lived in the country for many years.

Source

I think they have already caught the drivers in the operation. If they have the right ones then I doubt it will be long before they get the others. I can imagine the interigation being pretty full on. They also said that some of the money had been recovered.

I have a question: Does anyone know if the Brazilian government can get the money back if they put it onto an offshore account like a Swiss bank account?

the brazillian government cant access the money themselves, but seeing as the people who did the hit are brazillians, the government could charge em for theft and reckless endangerment. and seeing as they have something close to a kangaroo court down there, they could put em away for a gazillion years unless they returned all stolen goods.

in short theyl HAVE to access the money through the criminals if its in an offshore account as offshore accounts are governed within themselves and answers to no countries law in particular.