South Africa: Robbers 'in Police Uniforms' Carry Out Airport Heist

Criminals masquerading as police officers pulled off a heist at South Africa's busiest airport Tuesday evening.

The robbers drove a marked police van up to a security escort vehicle, which was carrying various foreign currencies to be deposited on a flight to London, on the tarmac at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, according to South African news site Times Live.

The criminals, who were dressed in police uniforms, took the bags of currency before fleeing the airport. There were at least eight members in the gang, according to Times Live.

Unnamed independent sources told the website that the amount stolen could total $15 million in various foreign currencies. Another South African news agency, News 24, cited a lower figure of 24 million rand (around $1.8 million).

The authority that controls the airport confirmed that a robbery had taken place. "No shots were fired and no injuries have been reported. The robbers fled," said Airports Company South Africa in a statement, adding that the robbers were armed.

South African authorities have not confirmed how much was stolen. Police spokesman Colonel Athlenda Mathe said Tuesday that the police did not know the amount taken, according to South African broadcaster eNCA.

A spokesman for elite police unit, the Hawks, said that an officer had been sent to the scene. "None of our members were informed about the incident; we are not aware, but we just want to confirm how much money," said Captain Ndivhuwo Mulama, a spokesman for the Hawks in Gauteng province, where Johannesburg is located.

A reporter for Times Live, Graeme Hosken, told the BBC's Newsday program that a source within the Hawks had described the heist like "something scripted from a Hollywood movie."

The airport is operating normally, but some South Africans have taken to social media to express shock at the security breach.