Seven held after police foil £40m Heathrow heist

Seven men have been arrested after police foiled an attempted £40 million bullion heist at Heathrow airport this morning.

Six men were detained this morning after Scotland Yard's Flying Squad swooped on the Swissport Cargo warehouse, in an operation involving over 100 officers. A seventh man was later apprehended by police.

Two of the gang hijacked a van and forced the driver to take them out of the entrance in the direction of Stanwell. One of the men has been caught, and police searches are continuing for the eighth suspect. The driver of the van, which was recovered shortly afterwards, was not injured.

Those arrested - aged in their early to late 30s - have been taken to west London police stations for questioning.

While no shots were fired during the operation and none of the staff were injured, one police officer sustained minor injuries.

The Metropolitan police's Flying Squad, assisted by armed colleagues from SO19, arrested the men at 10am this morning as they attempted to steal cash and gold bullion from a warehouse in Bedfont Road, Heathrow. The seventh man was arrested three hours later.

The attack began when a white van rammed through the shutters of Swissport Cargo warehouse on the outer-perimeters of Heathrow. A gang of men got out of the van and threatened staff with at least one firearm and other weapons including knives and cudgels.

They attempted to steal the large quantity of precious metal that had been delivered to the warehouse and force their way into a secure area containing a large quantity of bank notes. Armed officers, who were lying in wait, disabled the van and challenged the suspects.

Det Supt Barry Phillips, from the Flying Squad, said: "In preventing this attack, we have foiled what would have been one of the biggest robberies ever committed in the UK. We believe that these men were part of an organised criminal enterprise.

"It is clear that a lot of planning and preparation went into the attack but the Met's flying squad was one step ahead of the team for some time."

The operation, codenamed Cartwright, involved more than 100 officers from the Met's flying squad, Specialist Operations and firearms unit.

Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, the head of the Met's Specialist Crime Directorate, said: "A professional team of armed robbers have now been removed from society. This is an excellent example of the flying squad, supported by armed officers from SO19, ensuring that the security in and around Heathrow is maintained."

(gmcg)