(KTLA) – An Easter Sunday burglary at a San Fernando Valley money storage facility netted thieves as much as $30 million in cash in an operation that has, at least for now, left authorities baffled, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The March 31 heist, which is among the biggest in L.A.’s history, occurred at an undisclosed Sylmar facility that handles cash from businesses across Southern California, L.A. police shared with The Times.
While it’s unclear how thieves knew about the massive amount of money held in the GardaWorld facility’s safe, the break-in was considered complex, suggesting a highly experienced burglary crew that managed to breach the building through the roof and gain access to the vault without activating the alarm system.
GardaWorld, according to its website, is a “long-standing security partner of choice to some of the most prominent brands, Fortune 500 corporations and governments.”
There were no signs of the break-in outside of the vault itself, and officials at the facility weren’t even aware of the heist until the safe was opened Monday.
Officials at the Sylmar facility alerted LAPD and detectives from the department’s Mission Division arrived to search for and gather evidence.
Law enforcement sources told The Times that the burglary is one of the largest cash heists in the city’s history and that the $30 million theft beats any armored-car robberies in Southern California.
In a July 2022 heist, jewelry exhibitors who hired Brinks Security Company to transport their merchandise from Northern to Southern California were robbed of what they claimed was $150 million in jewels.
While parked at a rest stop in Lebec, one of the security guards on duty was sleeping as the second guard was eating a meal inside the truck stop.
That’s when thieves seized the opportunity to grab nearly two dozen bags of vintage jewelry, gems and luxury watches from the tractor-trailer.
After the victims took legal action against the security company, Brinks retaliated with a suit of its own, disputing the value of the stolen merchandise.
No arrests have been made in that case.
As for the record-setting burglary in Sylmar, police told KTLA that they are not currently providing any information on the case. An official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation would only confirm that they are working with LAPD on the matter but would not comment further.