These Infamous Heists Involved Firepower You Won’t Believe

It’s an unfortunate truth that crime continues in both America and the world as long as firearms remain widely available. Combine the availability of firearms with the public’s fascination for brazen robberies, which have captured attention for hundreds of years, sometimes using all sorts of firearms and sometimes no weapons at all.

The largest diamond heist in history is also known as the “heist of the century.” Stealing loose diamonds, gold, silver, and other jewelry valued at over $100 million, the Antwerp Diamond Heist involved no guns whatsoever.

The thieves managed to break through a vault that offered more than 100 million possible combinations, and the heist wasn’t discovered until days later. Belgian police arrested the suspects hiding in a forest days later, but most of the jewelry was never recovered.

Although the robbers used AK-47s to kidnap the depot’s manager and his family, no shots were fired during the Securitas Depot Robbery, in which more than $92 million was stolen. Surprisingly, there was no immediate response to the robbery as the act took place overnight, though Kent, United Kingdom police used CCTV to try and track the movements of the robbers. While seven men would eventually be convicted, only a fraction of the money was recovered.

Known as the “Robbery of the Century” in Argentina, this heist took place in 2006 and has been lauded for being pulled off near perfectly. The criminals took 23 hostages with toy guns and notified the police about the robbery, prompting more than 200 officers to surround the building.
However, this was a diversion, as the criminals escaped with as much as $25 million in valuables through a 15-meter tunnel beneath the bank.

Grabbing the equivalent of $35 million, family members of the Northern Bank were taken hostage and held at gunpoint. The armed gang then stole the money from the bank by loading it into a van and taking two separate trips, making it one of the largest bank robberies in the history of the United Kingdom. The police claimed the IRA was responsible, but no one has ever been held accountable for the robbery.

Over $17.3 million was stolen from a Loomis, Fargo & Co. regional vault office on October 4, 1997. Committed by a Loomis vault supervisor, his married girlfriend, and other co-conspirators, the “hillbilly heist” allowed the supervisor, David Ghantt, to load the money into a company van and drive away without using firearms. Police found the criminals quickly, as the conspirators were already spending the money and living lavishly.

On March 24, 1972, the United California Bank was robbed of what would be over $65 million in 2024 dollars. Amil Dinsio led the group to enter the vault using dynamite to blast a hole into its reinforced concrete roof.

Upon entering the bank, the group left no clues, leaving some to call it a “perfect” robbery. The robbers’ big mistake was attempting the same act in Ohio, where they left behind clues that led law enforcement straight to the group.

Using handguns and disguising themselves as women, four robbers entered the Harry Winston Paris and made away with just under $37 million in jewels. Eventually known as the “Pink Panthers,” the group knew the store layout and staff members’ names, and were in and out within 15 minutes. Police investigated the group, but it would take over 3 years to recover any jewelry and arrest the suspects.

In 1911, the Bonnot Gang hit the Société Generale Bank in Paris, France, utilizing modern firearms and becoming the first heist to use a getaway car. The group is believed to have used repeating rifles instead of single-shot weapons, and shot a clerk in the neck and lung, and then grabbed his cash bag. The group was only caught after being captured due to unrelated heists and shootouts.

Now the largest cash heist in US history, the Easter Sunday Heist took place in March 2024 as thieves broke into a GardaWorld facility in Los Angeles, grabbing over $30 million.

Police responded to multiple alarms at the facility on the day of the heist, but the thieves were undetected. There had been 13 alarm calls at this location in the prior year. The thieves entered the facility through the roof and by tunneling and didn’t trigger any alarms. The investigation is still ongoing as of April 2025.

On September 12, 1997, more than $18.9 million was taken in the Dunbar Armored Robbery in Los Angeles. At the time, it was the largest cash robbery to have occurred in the United States as six men robbed the Dunbar Armored facility. Using handguns to surprise guards, the group left almost no evidence until, two years later, a realtor was paid in banknotes and notified the police.

In 1963, the “Great Train Robbery” took place, when the equivalent of $87 million US dollars was stolen in British pounds. Fifteen men tampered with train signals to bring the train to a stop, using blunt instruments and the threat of violence to stop the train driver. Yet again, most of the stolen money was never recovered, even as most of the gang was identified and arrested.

With around R$160 million stolen from the Banco Central in Fortaleza, Brazil, or $28 million, this remains one of the world’s largest heists. Shockingly, only R$20 million has been recovered, even after eight people had been arrested.

The theft involved digging a 256-foot tunnel directly into the vault, and the criminals didn’t need to use any firearms, a surprising fact for such a brazen robbery. The police were not notified until after the crime was complete.

The Brinks-Mat Robbery is one of the most famous heists in United Kingdom history. Getting away with the equivalent of $34 million in gold bullion, diamonds, and cash, the gang relied on little more than handguns to threaten guards, and not a single shot was fired. Unfortunately, most of the gold was never recovered, despite several arrests over the years following an initially slow police response.

On December 11, 1978, six masked gunmen associated with the Lucchese crime family entered the Lufthansa cargo terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport. During the early morning robbery, the robbers were armed with handguns and managed to grab an estimated $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewelry. The heist lasted just over an hour, and it took the police four days to find their first clue.

Taking place on February 28, 1997, Larry Philips and Emil Mătăsăreanu got into a fierce gun battle in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Injuring more than 12 officers and eight civilians, more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition were fired.

Mătăsăreanu relied on a Bushmaster XM-15 ES2 weapon while Philips utilized a Norinco Type 56 S and a Heckler & Koch HK91. The initial police response was outgunned until SWAT arrived 18 minutes after the shooting started and killed both suspects.