US$7.7 million stolen from western German customs office

BERLIN: German authorities on Wednesday (Nov 11) offered a €100,000 (US$118,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of a group of burglars who made off with €6.5 million in cash from a customs office near the Dutch border earlier this month.

A witness reported hearing a loud noise on Nov 1 at the customs building in Emmerich am Rhein at around 6am, and then seeing three darkly-dressed men with black caps loading a white van nearly five hours later.

Another similarly clad man was seen in the area and a witness took his photo, which police in nearby Kleve published along with the reward details.

According to police, the three drilled through a cellar wall in the customs office from the neighboring building and were able to make off with the money, which was stored in so-called safe bags.

The van used in the getaway had Kleve license plates, police said.