G4S helicopter robbery
Encyclopedia
The Västberga helicopter robbery occurred on 23 September 2009 at 05:15 CET when a G4S cash service depot was robbed in Västberga in southern Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. The robbers used a stolen Bell 206
Bell 206
The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- or twin-engine helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter program, the 206 failed to be selected...

 Jet Ranger as transport and landed on the rooftop of the G4S building. The police were unable to use their own helicopters to pursue the robbers since decoy bombs had been placed close to them. A 7 million SEK reward was announced the following day for anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the robbers and/or the return of the stolen goods. This was the first robbery involving a helicopter in Swedish history. All the men responsible for the robberies were sentenced to prison on October 10, 2010.

Events of September 23

  • A Bell 206 helicopter is stolen from Roslagens helicopter base in Norrtälje
    Norrtälje
    Norrtälje is a locality and the seat of Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 17,275 inhabitants in 2010.- History :Norrtälje traces its history to 1219, when the location was first mentioned as Tälje. After some time, the name officially became Norrtälje, to separate it from the...

    .
  • The helicopter arrives at 5:15 (CEST) at the G4S Cash service building. Three to four people land on the rooftop and break the reinforced glass window with a sledgehammer. Small bombs go off inside the building, likely to blow security doors open. No people are physically harmed. Bags of money are thereafter loaded into the helicopter. The sum is unknown.
  • The Swedish police arrive at 05:25 (CEST) but do not intervene, due to reports of the use of submachine gun
    Submachine gun
    A submachine gun is an automatic carbine, designed to fire pistol cartridges. It combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol. The submachine gun was invented during World War I , but the apex of its use was during World War II when millions of the weapon type were...

    s.
  • The helicopter takes off from the rooftop at 5:35 (CEST) with all the robbers and the money onboard.
  • Prior to the robbery, caltrops had been placed on the roads around the cash service building to prevent police cars from gaining access and decoy bombs were placed on the police helicopter base at Myttinge on the island of Värmdö
    Värmdö
    Värmdö can mean:*Värmdö Municipality - a municipality of Stockholm County in Sweden, named after the island Värmdön*Värmdö - a large island in eastern Sweden, in Värmdö Municipality...

    .
  • The helicopter the robbers used is found at 08:15 (CEST) in the woods just outside a field at Skavlöten in Arninge, thirty kilometers north of Stockholm
    Stockholm
    Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

    .

Subsequent events

  • Swedish police arrest six male suspects in connection with the robbery. They are listed as being aged 21 to 36, but otherwise unidentified in accordance with Swedish privacy law.
  • Serbia
    Serbia
    Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

    n Interior Minister Ivica Dačić
    Ivica Dacic
    Ivica Dačić is a Serbian politician. He is the leader of Socialist Party of Serbia and is First Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of Internal Affairs....

     claims that former members of the paramilitary Red Berets took part in the robbery. One month prior to the robbery, the Swedish Embassy was allegedly given "certain information about a criminal group which was preparing a robbery" by Serbian police.

Sentences

7 men were sentenced to prison terms in October 2010 for their participation in the robbery.
Helicopter pilot Alexander Eriksson: 7 years imprisonment
Robber Saha Kadhum: 7 years imprisonment
Organizer Charbel Charro: 5 years imprisonment
Organizer Mikael Södergran: 5 years imprisonment
Organizer Goran Bojovic: 3 years imprisonment
Falsified alibi provider Marcus Axelsson: 2 years imprisonment
Falsified alibi provider Unknown: 1 year imprisonment
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