If at first you don't succeed, try again and if the second time does not work, leave your sledge hammer and chisel and abandon your Christmas thievery.
This may not be the mantra of our local criminals, but it was what happened yesterday morning when for the second time in less than a month criminals attempted to steal money from First Citizens bank in Arima by burrowing through concrete and steel. They were unsuccessful.
In November, criminals made an attempt at easy cash but abandoned their pursuit. Police reports stated that the bank was notified of another unsuccessful attempt. Police said the discovery was made around 8 am and the bank's wall was not penetrated.
On November 27, employees of the branch realised that someone had unsuccessfully attempted to break into the bank and contacted the police. The bank remained closed for the day. Police said they have been making great breakthroughs in these type of burglaries where crooks target financial institutions particularly on long weekends.
Last week, there was another attempted break-in at FCB Arouca but again nothing was stolen. Three months ago, burglars stole $3.5 million from Montrose Chaguanas branch of FCB. In July Scotiabank’s Chaguanas branch was robbed of an undisclosed sum after burglars did the same thing, entered the institution through a hole they made and tampered with an ATM. Scotiabank’s St James branch was also broken into one month prior but the thieves could not get to the vault and left empty handed.
Also in July, Eastern Credit Union was robbed of $400,000 when thieves cut a hole and broke into a vault. In all the cases, the thieves entered either through the roof or an adjoining wall.
All the incidents took place on a weekend.
Following the airport robbery, the T&T Guardian contacted FCB asking if the the bank was being targeted specifically by the criminals. In an emailed response, Dexter Charles, Manager Corporate Communications said it is not factually correct to state that FCB was being targeted, when the broader incidences of financial crimes that are not reported are considered.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Radcliffe Boxhill, under whose supervision many of the aforementioned cases were solved, said police have been noticing that the culprits target financial institutions on weekends and have alerted officers to be on the lookout at all financial institutions on the weekend.
He added that security guards are advised to take all alarms seriously and for police and security officers to check all sides of financial institutions when making their checks.
Businesses that deal in precious metals are also given special consideration on weekends. Boxhill said the thieves may have been on their first night of work and may have been planning to return throughout the Christmas holidays to complete their mission.