20 freight containers full of gold, silver and TVs stolen from Mexican port: ‘It is unprecedented’

It was a golden opportunity.

Well-organized thieves in Mexico stole 20 freight containers full of gold ore, silver ore and televisions and got away clean.

At least 12 armed thieves hit the Port of Manzanillo on June 5, loaded the containers onto trucks and simply drove them away, authorities told El Pais.

“It is unprecedented, there had been no robbery of this nature before this,” state security spokesman Gustavo Adrian Joya said. “They were very selective about the type of goods that were stolen, especially the precious metals.”

Not a single bullet was fired during the heist. The attackers broke in and physically subdued the security team at the private freight yard. With the employees at Maniobras Alonso Mireles tied up, they went through the containers to find the specific cargo they wanted.

Mexico’s navy is in charge of security at the Port of Manzanillo, Mexico’s second-largest seaport, but they were quick to point out that the thieves hit a private yard that was outside of their jurisdiction.

“(The company) did not have the infrastructure that a place of this nature requires,” Joya told El Pais.

The containers, their contents and the attackers have not been seen since. Mexican authorities said it was an organized crime operation. Though the appeal of the TVs was obvious for their black market value, authorities struggled to see the purpose of taking gold ore and silver ore because it requires further processing.

With News Wire Services