Six thieves made off with a haul of tens of millions of pesos worth of commemorative coins and watches in a broad daylight robbery of the Mexican mint in downtown Mexico City on Tuesday morning.

It started at 9:30am when at least three armed men separately entered the mint, located just blocks from the Angel of Independence on Reforma avenue. Two of the robbers, who were dressed as office workers in dress shirts and sweaters, subdued and disarmed a 35-year-old guard. Meanwhile, the other robber went to the vault, which was already open, and began to fill a backpack with commemorative coins and watches.

Five minutes after they had entered the building, the three calmly walked out to meet their accomplices who were waiting with getaway vehicles on Reforma.

Mint employees activated security alarms at 9:35am. Mexico City police arrived to interview witnesses but were unable to catch the thieves before they fled.

An inventory check after the robbery showed that the thieves had stolen 1,567 commemorative coins as well as an unknown number of watches, with a total value of around 55 million pesos (US $2.8 million).

According to preliminary investigations by police, mint employees did not follow security protocols during the robbery. Police Chief Jesús Orta said that one line of investigation is focusing on the failure of the protocols, and that a guard and eight other employees are being investigated.

“It’s curious the way they went directly to the vault, and that they so easily removed the coins and watches,” he said.

This is the second time that the mint has been robbed in recent years. On July 17, 2018, four people beat guards and broke glass cases during a robbery that netted 10 million pesos worth of coins and watches.

Source: El Financiero (sp)