One of the biggest robberies in British history was foiled yesterday by a police sting operation, with seven men arrested near Heathrow airport after forcing their way into a warehouse holding £80m in gold and cash. The gang, armed with guns, knives and cudgels, threatened staff and began loading gold ingots into a van, unaware that about 100 officers from the Flying Squad and armed response unit were lying in wait.
Police disabled the raiders' van by firing Hatton rounds designed to deflate tyres, arresting six men in their 30s. A seventh gang member fled across fields and forced his way into a house, where he was arrested minutes later. An eighth man escaped by hijacking a van and forcing the driver to smash through an entrance barrier; he remained at large last night.
Detective Superintendent Barry Phillips of the Flying Squad said the raid 'would have been one of the biggest robberies ever committed in the UK', comparing it to the Great Train Robbery and Brinks-Mat heist. He described the gang as career criminals who 'knew where the gold bullion was located inside the premises and went straight for it'.
The raid began just before 10am when the gang drove up to the Swissport cargo warehouse in Bedfont Road, presenting legitimate paperwork to collect precious metal. Instead of waiting, they reversed a Ford Transit van through metal shutters and threatened staff, at which point dozens of officers entered and ordered them to lay down weapons. A policeman was injured in a short struggle.
The Flying Squad had tracked the group for weeks as part of Operation Grafton, a year-long inquiry into robberies around Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Det Supt Phillips noted that 'a lot of planning and preparation went into the attack but the Met's Flying Squad was one step ahead'. The warehouse held between £30m and £40m in cash and a similar value in gold.
