Subterranean Heists of Argentina

In 2006, a group of audacious thieves walked into the Banco Rio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, holding the entire bank hostage for seven hours while they emptied over 140 safe deposit boxes, making off with an estimated $8 million. What made this heist truly remarkable was not just the staggering amount stolen but the thieves' daring escape plan. As the police surrounded the bank, the captors vanished, leaving behind bewildered hostages and a hole in the basement leading to a secret tunnel.

This audacious heist was part of a string of underground robberies in South America, including the largest bank robbery in history, where thieves in Fortaleza, Brazil, dug a 260-foot tunnel equipped with lights and wood-paneled walls to steal $68 million. These subterranean heists raised the bar for bank robberies, employing meticulous planning, audacious tactics, and clean getaways.