MEDELLIN – An upmarket neighbourhood in Medellin, Colombia briefly resembled the award-winning Spanish crime series Money Heist yesterday when 20 masked robbers engaged in a shoot-out with police, before 11 were arrested.
Footage of the incident posted on social media showed robbers fleeing on motorbikes after police thwarted their attempt to plunder a gold warehouse.
It was "a robbery attempt by an organised criminal gang that seemingly prepared this robbery for months, who thought they were going to pull off Money Heist here,” Medellin Mayor Daniel Quintero told journalists.
“Let that be a message to all criminals who think they’re going to do a Netflix here, no sir!” Quintero added.
He said 11 people were detained following the shoot-out, one of whom was injured and treated in the hospital.
Police chief Javier Jose Martin said security forces initially apprehended a suspect close to the warehouse.
“When this criminal saw the patrol, he got scared, alerted the other criminals who were inside the establishment, and began a confrontation with firearms,” said Martin.
Two police officers were “lightly injured” in the shoot-out, which took place in the middle of the day.
Seven firearms, five motorcycles, six bulletproof vests, and a vehicle were seized, police said.
Medellin was no stranger to gang violence in the 1980s and 1990s when the local drug baron Pablo Escobar launched a war against authorities.
The city of 2.5 million recorded 332 murders between January and November this year. – AFP, November 5, 2021
