Bandits in police uniforms steal US$550,000 from armored truck in east Baghdad

[Robbien]

Source: IHT/AP

Gunmen wearing police commando uniforms waylaid an armored truck on a major Baghdad street, overpowered the guards and made off with about a half-million dollars in Iraqi currency, police said.

The robbers on Wednesday set up a fake checkpoint with two police vehicles along the Mohammed al-Qassim highway in eastern Baghdad, the police said, flagged down the armored truck and offered to escort it to its destination in downtown Baghdad. Along the way, the estimated 10 gunmen forced the driver to pull over near a university campus, police said. There they handcuffed and gagged the truck's occupants — five guards, one accountant and a driver — and stole the money.

. . .

But gunmen dressed as police have been responsible for other crimes over the past two years, including the May 29 abduction of four British security guards and a consultant who were seized from the Finance Ministry compound. All five remain missing.

Last December, gunmen wearing military uniforms stopped a bank delivery truck in Baghdad and stole about US$1 million (€720,000). A week later, gunmen in military uniforms raided a Baghdad bank and got away with the equivalent of US$709,000, (€511,000) police said.

Read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/13/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq.php

[Kutjara]

1. "Bandits in police uniforms"?

or perhaps just police. There has to be some compensation for taking your life in your hands every time you put on that uniform in Iraq.

[slackmaster]

7. I found a photo of them, though not in police uniforms

[gateley]

2. Have they already blown through the $8 Billion? nt

[Journeyman]

3. Slipping on a uniform and going to Iraq seems quite profitable these days. . .

provided you pick the right uniform, then pick the right truck . . .

[Botany]

4. only $550,000

hell Haliburton does that every 1/2 hour.

[subsuelo]

5. In other news, bandits in tailored suits rob Iraq of natural resources

Bandits wearing tailored suits overpowered the defenseless nation of Iraq and expect to make off with billions of dollars in profits.

The bandits in 2003 through present invaded with the most powerful military in history, marched into Baghdad, toppled the regime, and offered to hold elections for publicity purposes. Along the way, the bandits tricked their own people into complicity and forced other nations to go along with the scheme, under the guise of fighting terrorism. Then they killed tens of thousands — and stole the oil.

[Purveyor]

6. A new "Blackwater" incentive perk, perhaps? eom

[Javaman]

9. You comment touches on a possibility...

I honestly wouldn't put it past blackwater to stage or to be committing these crimes for one reason or another. they have no oversight, no regulations to follow and everything they do is a secret. (sounds like the repukes, huh?)

what keeps them from not stealing everything that isn't nailed down?

[soothsayer]

8. Eh, the war costs us what, $2 billion a week? that's chickenfeed