Thieves steal $99m in biggest Brazil bank heist

RIO DE JANEIRO - Thieves tunneled into a bank in northeastern Brazil and stole $US68 million ($NZ99.7 million), the biggest bank heist in the nation's history, police said today.

"It's something you see in the movies.... They dug a 200m tunnel that goes underneath two (city) blocks. They've been digging for three months," police investigator Francisco Queiroga told Reuters.

The thieves broke into a branch of the central bank in the northeastern state of Ceara over the weekend and removed 156 million reais ($US68 million).

The theft was not discovered until Monday morning because the bank was closed.

"The tunnel was dug right underneath the vault," Queiroga said. "We've never heard of so much money being stolen from a bank in Brazil." Federal police in Ceara said it was the biggest known heist in Brazil and that between six and 10 people were suspected of doing the job.

The theft exceeds the amount stolen by Britain's Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, who fled to Brazil and lived in the country for many years.

He and 11 other gang members robbed a Glasgow-to-London mail train in 1963 and made off with Stg2.6 million - some Stg30 million ($NZ78.3 million) in today's money.

- REUTERS