Airport staff among 12 held for £2m Heathrow raid
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Airport staff were among 12 people believed to be members of a suspected robbery gang arrested yesterday on suspicion of a £2m theft at Heathrow airport.
Police said more than £1m in cash was recovered at two addresses during a series of early-morning raids in which 10 men and two women were arrested.
Among those being questioned by detectives from Scotland Yard's Flying Squad are understood to be a 21-year-old van driver who had told police the robbers had surprised him on 19 March and forced him to drive out of the airport with a knife at his throat.
Yesterday's arrests suggest the police believe the theft was an inside job. On 11 February, two thieves fled with £4.6m from Heathrow. The people held yesterday, all believed to be Asian and aged between 21 and 37, were found at addresses in London. They are accused of conspiring to steal and launder the cash and are expected to be questioned about both robberies. Several of those arrested are understood to have worked at the airport.
In the robbery in March, two men posing as security staff held up a security company van that had just unloaded containers from a South African Airways flight in the restricted "airside" area of terminal 1. They stole two cash boxes containing $3.2m.
The van driver told police he was forced to drive out of the airport with a knife at his throat and two miles away the robbers transferred the cash boxes to another van and escaped.
The theft had striking similarities to the earlier robbery of £4.6m in foreign currency, in which two men hijacked a British Airways security van in the airside area at terminal 4. In both raids the robbers were described as Asian. Money recovered yesterday is believed to include US dollars.
Both robberies are believed to be inside jobs, with the raiders using legitimate security passes. Scores of companies working at the airport provide their employees, many of them temporary, with passes, and are currently responsible for security vetting.
The suspects were arrested at homes in Norwood Green, Southall, Northolt, Isleworth, and Hounslow, and the money was found at two of the addresses. A total of 16 searches had been made, police said.
Detective Chief Superintendent John Coles said: "Today's arrests are the culmination of a two-month ... operation by the Flying Squad. This robbery was one of the biggest to take place in recent years. Our inquiries are continuing and we appeal for anyone with information to come forward."
Because of the security lapses, the Government announced in March that tighter checks on security staff at airports were to be introduced.
The recent robberies have been deeply embarrassing for the management at Heathrow airport, which was supposed to be on a heightened security alert after the 11 September attack in America.
Over the next few months closed-circuit television coverage at airports will be reviewed and plans produced for improvements in the amount and quality of coverage.
Britain's most senior anti-terrorist police officer, Assistant Commissioner David Veness of the Metropolitan Police, has criticised the lack of cameras at airports and said many high streets had a more comprehensive system of monitors.
Among security measures agreed are new requirements governing the identification, recovery and deletion of security passes that have been lost, or are no longer needed. Counter-terrorist checks on security staff will be extended and more people will have their criminal records checked. The Department of Transport will issue advice on handling high-value cargo at airports.