Armed gang steals 40,000 devices in Samsung factory heist

Samsung-booth-sign

A gang of 20 armed robbers have raided a Samsung factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and stolen over 40,000 devices worth around $6 million. Phones, tablets, laptops, and other electronics were loaded into seven trucks before the thieves made off with the loot.

The armed man began their mission by capturing eight Samsung employees who were traveling to the factory on a company bus just before midnight. They stole their identity tags and took two of the workers as hostages while the other six were “taken to an unknown location,” the Associated Press reports.

“They subdued the guards, took their weapons and their ammunition and told them to continue working as if nothing had happened,” said police Lieutenant Vitor Chaves. Many workers were told to hand over their phones so that they could not make contact with police during the heist, but none of them were hurt.

The thieves then set about loading over 40,000 finished Samsung products onto seven trucks. Police originally estimated the value of the goods to be $36 million, but Samsung later lowered the figure to $6 million.

Police are now examining security footage around the plant in an effort to identify the crooks. Samsung says it is “fully cooperating with the ongoing police investigation,” and that the South Korean company will “do our best to prevent this happening again.”

One investigator suggested that the heist may have been an inside job. Carlos Henrique Fernandes, head of the General Investigations unit, believes it would have been difficult to commit a crime of this scale without the help of a factory employee.