Gunmen Steal $11.5M in Gold From Fishing Boat

Curacao police say robbers posed as customs officials
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 2, 2012 5:31 PM CST
Gunmen Steal $11.5M in Gold From Fishing Boat
The "Summer Bliss" fishing boat sits docked at the Willemstad port in Curacao, Friday, Nov. 30, 2012.   (AP Photo/Karen Attiah)

Here's a fishy one: Police on the Caribbean island of Curacao say they are investigating after armed men robbed a fishing boat of $11.5 million in gold bars on Friday, the AP reports. The alleged robbers wore police jackets and told the boat's crew they were customs officials in order to get to the gold. Police say they made off with 70 gold bars, weighing 476 pounds, in three cars—and authorities have one of the license plates.

Why a fishing boat docked at Curacao would have $11.5 million in gold is another question. Police are still questioning the captain and three crew members of "Summer Bliss," but one crew member tells the AP that the boat left the South American country of Guyana on Monday and arrived in the Caribbean on Friday—with plans to deliver the gold to an unidentified company. "We don't want to jump the gun and say that the gold is from Guyana," said one official, but that country yields 650,000 ounces of gold annually—and some say half of that is smuggled out in order to dodge tax payments. (More armed robbery stories.)

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