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Police Baffled: $11.5M in Gold Bars Burgled in Bold Boat Heist

Dec. 3, 2012 9:15pm Becket Adams

Curacao Police Chase Down Leads in $11.5M Gold Heist

The “Summer Bliss” fishing boat sits docked at the Willemstad port in Curacao, Friday, Nov. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Karen Attiah)

WILLEMSTAD, Curacao (TheBlaze/AP) — Police in Curacao said this weekend that they have several leads following a brazen heist in which gunmen pretending to be police stole 70 gold bars worth an estimated $11.5 million from a fishing boat.

Authorities have the license plate number of one of three cars used in Friday’s getaway, and they have been asking for the public’s help in tracking the suspects, police spokesman Reggie Huggins told The Associated Press.

“There is information coming in,” he said. “We are getting reactions from the public, but we still have to sort it out.”

Police have said that at least six men were involved, but no one has been arrested in a case that surprised authorities in the Dutch Caribbean island.

Huggins said police are still interviewing the captain and three crew members of the ship, which contacted officials in Curacao about the incoming gold shipment as part of regular security protocol. The gold bars weigh about 476 pounds.

Yes, $11.5 million in gold was being transported on this boat (AP)

Police declined to say where the gold was being delivered, but one crew member, who identified himself to the AP as Raymond Emmanuel, said they were delivering the gold to an unidentified company in Curacao.

He said the crew left Guyana on Monday and arrived in Curacao early Friday. Shortly after the ship docked, masked gunmen wearing jackets with the word “police” assaulted the boat’s captain and then stole the gold bars.

Huggins said that security guards allowed the suspects to enter a restricted area thinking they were customs officials.

Rechenel Martyn, spokesman for Curacao Customs, said the boat’s captain shared with authorities the intended recipient of the gold bars, but he declined to release the name because the case is under investigation. He added that the ship’s crew followed protocol and that there is no special procedure for shipments of high value.

Meanwhile, officials in Guyana said they are investigating whether the gold was mined in the South American country, which is near Curacao.

Associated Press

Environment Minister Robert Persaud told the AP that they have requested details about the gold bars, adding that such shipments are usually flown directly to the buyer and involve heavy security. The ship’s crew members have said they weren’t armed.

Both Persaud and Anan Balram, director of Guyana’s Gold Board, said that if the gold was mined in Guyana, it would be a clear case of smuggling.

“We don’t want to jump the gun and say that the gold is from Guyana,” Persaud said. “That is what we first have to establish, as well as if the ship many any other stops anywhere else.”

Officials said there is no record of the ship, named “Summer Bliss,” leaving Guyana’s Port Georgetown Harbor, adding that it could have left from a pier at any of the country’s numerous rivers.

Guyana produces roughly 650,000 ounces of gold a year, and officials say that up to half that amount is smuggled out of the country to avoid paying taxes. Most of the gold is sold in neighboring Brazil, Venezuela, and Suriname.

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Comments (22)

SilentOne
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 5:51pm
Some thing smells very very very fishy

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rdk
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 12:58pm
So, some crooks robbed some other crooks.

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schroeder123
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 10:57am
In this case, I would start at the top and work down.
The insurance company will pay for the loss.
Some how I think that gold will show up in the owners pockets.

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ares338
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:49am
Police baffled? No….surely not.

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BlessedONE333
Posted on December 4, 2012 at 4:43am
“The ship’s crew members have said they weren’t armed.” WITH 11.5 MILLION IN GOLD? BULL PUCKY I don’t believe that for a minute

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- December4
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 5:34am
  If they weren’t armed then they are stupid. Read fresh political commentary at: http://smallcraftadvisorychronicles.blogspot.com/
  
  Report this comment
Advection
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:25pm
Inside job. Obviously.

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- TSUNAMI_22
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:54pm
  Inside job by the (cough) police.
  
  Report this comment
- Beck_Art_-_Obama_In_Pee-Pee
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 12:36am
  “Police Baffled: $11.5M in Gold Bars Burgled in Bold Boat Heist”
  
  Police get “baffled” so easily now-a-days …
  
  Report this comment
Mr.buff1959
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:05pm
Do sent everyone ship there gold across the crib in a old shrimp boat.

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right-wing-waco
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 9:34pm
The math does not work out. You measure gold in troy weight. 12oz per lb and the troy lb is not the same as the imperial lb. If you do the math you will never get to about $16,000 per oz. I don’t know how they got to the amounts they claim.

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- HOOT_OWL
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 12:12am
  Known:
  70 bars estimated at $11.5 million
  $11,500,000.oo :- 70 bars = $ 164,285 .71 per bar [from story]
  Gold bars weight= 476 pounds
  14.583 troy ounces = 1 ‘avoirdupois’ pound
  476 lbs :- 70 bars = each bar weighed 6.8 ‘avoirdupois pounds’
  Today 11/3/12 Spot gold price = $1713
  
  ~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  6.8lb x14.583troy oz = 99.1644 troy oz x $1713spot = $169,868 .62.…. Each 6.8 pound bar would have bee worth $169,868.62 ‘IF’ the robbery happened at [today’s spot gold price per bar.]
  
  SO
  $169,868.62 – $164,285.71 = $5,582.90 the difference
  Then
  $5,582.90 :- 99.1644 troy oz = $ 56.30 dollars difference in spot price per troy ounce .
  So
  $1713 today s spot – difference of $56 = $1,656 .70 troy ounce was the spot gold price they valued at time of robbery of the gold.
  So
  Each ‘troy ounce’ at time of the heist was $ 1,656.70
  SO THEN
  6.8 lb x 14.583 troy oz = 99.1644 troy oz
  99,1644 troy oz X $ 1,656 .70 = $164,285.66 per bar
  
  The top was $ 164,285.71 per 6.8 pound gold bar
  AND
  The bottom was $ 164,285.66 per 6,8 pound gold bar.
  Close enough…
  
  Report this comment
- banjarmon
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 1:11am
  The HOOT OWL lost me…..lets see half of 2 plus 2 is…… I got it…..2
  
  Report this comment
DADDYWOREAWHITEHAT
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 9:33pm
Smuggling? Police?
Hahahahahahahahahahah
hAHAHAHAHAHAHA,
Riiiiiiiiiight.

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JamieWV
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 9:27pm
Knock,Knock Knock- ummmm those car’s are long gone

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WAKEUPUSA2012
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 9:24pm
GTHO with all this spam you dope.

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WAKEUPUSA2012
Posted on December 3, 2012 at 9:23pm
Take the money and run.

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- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 9:32pm
  Anyone seen your boy Paul and his merry band of delegates lately? Lmao…
  
  Report this comment
- WAKEUPUSA2012
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:17pm
  lol you and the menial comments you spew are not worth my free time. Please do me a favor and go spread ur liberty bashing views with someone else.
  
  Report this comment
- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:23pm
  WAKEUP. I will not go, I will not go… I WILL NOT GOOOO… unless you WAKEUP. Now go back TOSLEEP. Lol.
  
  Report this comment
- WAKEUPUSA2012
  Posted on December 3, 2012 at 10:51pm
  With everyhing going on in the world, with the republican party just gettig kicked in the teeth, you act like a child troll and lambast a 76 year old man. You are on screwed up cookie. I hope you enjoy the new world order. Its all because of people who think just like you, you are without a doubt pathetic. Even peope who dont like DrPaul can see you are a vindictive, bitter person.
  
  Report this comment
- TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
  Posted on December 4, 2012 at 7:21am
  Okay WAKEUP.. let’s come at this from the beginning… your comment here. Why do you think it would be okay to…
  
  “Take the money and run?”
  
  Or are you just a Steve Miller Band fan?
  
  Report this comment

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