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44-year-old unsolved heist still captivating
Source: AFP |
December 10, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ON a rainy morning in December 1968, a police motorcyclist halted in front of a cash-laden Tokyo bank vehicle and ordered four men to get out, warning it was about to explode.
Seconds after the cop ducked underneath the car, plumes of smoke began billowing up and he screamed at them to flee.
"It's dynamite. It's going to blow!" he yelled, sending the terrified men running for their lives.
Then he calmly climbed behind the wheel and drove off with 300 million yen, never to be seen again.
It was Japan's biggest-ever cash heist, netting the crook the equivalent of US$3.6 million today, and leaving a mystery that remains unsolved 44 years later, having eluded some of Japan's top investigative minds.
The huge police probe cost over US$12 million and involved hundreds of detectives who questioned a staggering 118,000 people.
Decades later the crime continues to captivate the nation, having spawned books, movies, TV dramas and a comic book series. It continues to inspire Internet chat room conversations.
Seconds after the cop ducked underneath the car, plumes of smoke began billowing up and he screamed at them to flee.
"It's dynamite. It's going to blow!" he yelled, sending the terrified men running for their lives.
Then he calmly climbed behind the wheel and drove off with 300 million yen, never to be seen again.
It was Japan's biggest-ever cash heist, netting the crook the equivalent of US$3.6 million today, and leaving a mystery that remains unsolved 44 years later, having eluded some of Japan's top investigative minds.
The huge police probe cost over US$12 million and involved hundreds of detectives who questioned a staggering 118,000 people.
Decades later the crime continues to captivate the nation, having spawned books, movies, TV dramas and a comic book series. It continues to inspire Internet chat room conversations.
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