A real-life heist movie played out at a Samsung factory in Brazil early this week, which resulted in $6 million worth of electronics being stolen. According to The Associated Press, 20 armed robbers used the cover of nightfall to enact a plan that sounds like something straight out of a summer blockbuster. At the very least I'd expect this to become a straight-to-DVD movie at some point this year.
The heavily armed men reportedly hijacked a company bus and took eight employees hostage as they entered the factory in Campinas. Once inside, the gang then overpowered the security guards on duty, and spent the next three hours stealing smartphones, tablets and computers by the truckload. In all, the criminals managed to steal 40,000 finished products in seven trucks; police estimated the final tally to be worth almost $40 million, but Samsung later said the figure is more like $6 million.
While all of this was going on, the robbers demanded employees hand over their phones so they couldn't communicate with anyone on the outside.
"They subdued the guards, took their weapons and their ammunition and told them to continue working as if nothing had happened," said police Lt. Vitor Chaves.
Samsung confirmed that no employees had been hurt in the incident, and said it's cooperating with law enforcement to track down the criminals. "We will do our best to prevent this [from] happening again," Samsung added in a statement.
And if all of that wasn't enough to perfectly setup the premise of a hollywood caper, law enforcement suggested this may have happened with help from the inside. If it's not the terrible working conditions, it's being held hostage.
