Thieves Made Off With Over $16 Million

Last Saturday, a band of thieves held up a South African Airways 747 on the ramp in Johannesburg, and made off with over $16 million -- and police say either an airport or airline employee may have helped them do it.

The armed robbery occurred around 10:30 am Saturday morning, when two men armed with AK-47s approached the SAA 747 in a "high security" section of the airport, and helped themselves to bags of money that had been flown in from Britain. While those two were grabbing the cash, the rest of the gang held up guards at one of the gates.

The gang of between six to 10 robbers made off with the money -- which was bound for Tanzania, and one other African country -- without a single shot being fired.

"Our detectives haven't slept all night and they will continue working around the clock to catch the suspects," said senior police superintendent Vish Naidoo, according to the BBC. "We view this matter in a serious light and I must emphasize that we will leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of it."

"But now, part of our theory will be that this was an inside job," Naidoo added.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the daring robbery South African Airways reports it was seeking a meeting with airport authorities at Johannesburg International, to discuss security arrangements -- or the lack of same.

"We will be seeking an urgent meeting with ACSA and the police to get an understanding of what happened and to find out what measures have been put in place to avoid a recurrence," said SAA spokesperson Jacqui O'Sullivan.

FMI: www.flysaa.com