An airport shooting occurred at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in the Chilean capital Santiago. The shootout occurred in an attempt to prevent the robbers from making off with over US$32 million in cash, which they had planned to hijack from a plane. In this exercise, a security officer and a robber were killed. As revealed by Interior Deputy Secretary Manuel Monsalve, about 10 heavily-armored robbers entered the airport premises by bypassing the runway security measures of Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport to steal cash from a LATAM Airlines plane. while it was being transferred to an armored truck.
A Delta Air Lines A350 is damaged by multiple bullets during a failed robbery at Santiago International Airport in Chile. pic.twitter.com/AWtkLNkfCY– Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) March 8, 2023
A shootout ensued between the potential robbers and security officers, resulting in the death of an employee of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGAC, as well as an alleged assailant. Other robbers fled. Later two burnt vehicles were found nearby. “The brave action by the DGAC officers foiled the robbery,” Monsalve said, noting that the robbers were “highly organized” and “very armed”.
Videos posted on social media showed gunshot wounds to a Delta aircraft that was parked next to the targeted LATAM aircraft. Another video shows a moment of the shootout, during which gunshots can be heard. “There was no danger to the passengers,” DGAC chief Zorkera said.
The robbery attempt targeted US$32.5 million, which was set to be transferred to an armored truck, to be later distributed to several banks in the South American country. “Attempted robbery will undoubtedly prompt us to revise procedures, protocols, which should be improved. It forces us to rethink many things,” Jorkera said.
It was not the first time the airport in the Chilean capital had been targeted. In 2020, thieves stole around US$15 million from an airport warehouse, six years after a similar theft of US$10 million. President Gabriel Boric lamented the latest robbery during a speech on Wednesday in which he said that “when there is insecurity, everything else falters”. Contributed to.