Cash truck robbers trained for heist under police surveillance

18 arrested so far

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As many as 18 people have so far been arrested, or international arrest warrants have been compiled for them, in connection with the preliminary investigations into last week’s attempted robbery of a cash truck in Lieto, near Turku. On Monday evening thirteen were in custody and five others were still at large - three Swedes and two Finns. Warrants for their immediate arrest have been issued.
      At the scene of the attempted robbery, the police immediately took four men into custody. One of them was a Finn, while two were Swedish and one Estonian.
      In addition, two Estonian men were caught in Vantaa, while in Turku two Finns were arrested and in Oripää, near Turku, one more Estonian was taken into custody.
     
On Monday evening, the police seized another suspect in Sweden and another in Finland.
      Furthermore, two Finnish men have been taken into custody over other crimes apparently related to the incident.
      The two men who escaped the police net on the night of the attempted robbery are thought to already be long gone and holed up in a warmer country than Finland.
     
Two of the men who have been detained are former employees of G4S Security Services.
      In G4S Director Timo Sankari’s view, employers should be authorized to conduct a more extensive safety assessment of applicants before employing security personnel.
      At present a company such as G4S is only able to carry out a rudimentary background vetting, basically checking if the prospective employee has a criminal record.
     
The entire gang in the Lieto case is also believed to have been involved in the robbery from a Bank of Finland money transport vehicle (also operated by G4S Cash Service) in Turku last February.
      Moreover, the men are suspected of forming an organized group of criminals and of involvement in its operations, both forbidden under criminal law.
     
This organization of criminals has a Finnish, a Swedish, and an Estonian branch. While the Swedish division includes some Finns, the Estonian unit is linked with the other two as well. Nearly 20 people are involved, even though they might not all know each other.
      For getaway purposes the robbers had rented a truck with an enclosed platform, containing a hidden compartment fitted out for use as accommodation for several persons.
      According to the police, the robbers were practising the planned heist a dozen or so times.
      Detective Superintendent Teijo Ristola, who is in charge of the investigations, reports that the police were aware of these exercises. The problem is that preparing for a heist is not a penal act as such.
     
In Finland it is permitted by law to follow a cash truck, to draw a map of its route, to measure the time taken by each activity, to prepare hiding places, and practically to do anything one wants, short of actually holding it up, says Ristola.
      Ristola notes further that his Swedish colleagues have been puzzled by the fact that preparing for a cash heist is not deemed illegal in Finland. Sweden has had a rash of such robberies in recent years, and it was thought to be only a matter of time before the phenomenon travelled here.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Two Swedish gang members still at large after attempted robbery of cash truck near Turku on Wednesday (2.11.2007)

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