Bungling bandits left trail of clues after US bank raid

What else would a pair of bank robbers do but ask for one-way tickets to Mexico?

US Department of Justice documents obtained by the Weekend Herald reveal the full extent of the bungling of two teenagers - a New Zealander and an Australian - foiled trying to flee the United States the day after robbing a bank of more than US$130,000 ($182,430).

New Zealander Anthony Harold Prince and Luke Gabriel Carroll, both 19, were arrested at Denver International Airport.

FBI agent Jonathan Grusing said Prince had confessed. Both men had given a detailed account of the holdup in the Vail Village ski resort, west of Denver.

On March 21, two masked men, wearing snowboard boots and carrying BB guns, held up two women tellers and forced one to put cash from the vault into a bag.

Their accents were described as Australian or European.

A village resident later found two bricks of plastic-wrapped notes totalling US$1000 in dollar bills, two BB pistols, a walkie-talkie and a Billabong jacket in the snow.

Police say Prince and Carroll abandoned the items before taking a skilift to head out of town.

The next day they dumped a backpack containing $26,000 in a rubbish bin outside the Denver airport before trying to board a plane.

They asked for one-way tickets to Mexico but were told they would have to buy round-trip tickets - which they did.

When arrested, Carroll was said to have a large bundle of US currency in his rear pants pocket and more money was stored in Prince's luggage with his skis.

Now the teenagers, who left home to work the winter in Colorado, are in a Denver jail waiting to be arraigned on charges including armed bank robbery. They face up to 25 years in a federal prison.

The pair are due to appear for a bail hearing on Tuesday (NZT).

- Additional reporting, agencies