Police said on Thursday they had detained two men in connection with Brazil's biggest bank robbery after stopping a truck loaded with cars they believe were purchased by the newly rich thieves.
Federal police have been hunting the thieves since the weekend bank heist in Fortaleza, northeast Brazil. The robbers escaped with 156 million reais (about $68 million) after digging a 260-foot (80-meter) tunnel from a rented house to the vault of the local central bank branch.
The car carrier was stopped on Wednesday night in Minas Gerais state on the road to Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, about 1,550 miles from Fortaleza.
A police spokesman said the vehicle was loaded with several cars that the robbers had bought from a dealer in Fortaleza with cash from the bank raid.
Police also found one million reais in packets hidden in the front seat of one of the cars. "All the other cars that were on the transporter will checked," he said.
Police detained the driver of the truck and its owner, who was traveling with him. It was not clear whether they had any involvement in the robbery or just transported the cars.
Police say 10-20 robbers had spent three months digging the tunnel to the bank from a house they had rented under the guise that they were running a landscaping company.
Authorities suspect the heist was carried out by either the First Capital Command or Red Command, Brazil's biggest organized crime gangs.
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