Manhunt underway after thieves steal $30m in Los Angeles — one of the city’s largest ever heists

Burglars somehow bypassed the alarm system, with staff only noticing the theft on Monday morning

Tens of millions of dollars have been stolen from a money storage facility in Los Angeles, with thieves somehow going undetected by getting in through the roof.

The break-in, at a facility in the San Fernando Valley on Easter Sunday, went unnoticed until Monday morning, with no sign on the outside of the safe that anything was amiss.

The robbery is said to be one of the largest in LA’s history, with some estimates putting the burglars’ haul at $30m.

Sources told the Los Angeles Times that few people would have known how much cash was being kept in the safe and that it must have taken a “crew of burglars” to pull off the heist.

Aerial footage showed a boarded-up hole in the side of the building, reported to belong to GardaWorld, a global cash management and security company, with rubble lying around it, but it was unconfirmed whether this was related to the break-in.

The facility is located in Sylmar, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley, about 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.

Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI are now investigating.

An employee who works at the facility who wished to remain anonymous told ABC News that there were multiple questions surrounding the mysterious break-in.

“It’s just mind blowing that you would never suspect it,” he told the outlet. “$30 million in the Valley, gone. How? Why? I’m still trying to process it.

“Was it an inside job? Was it just one person? Was it a group? You know, there’s a lot of questions.”

Before Sunday’s break-in, the largest cash heist in LA was on 12 September 1997, when $18.9m was stolen from the former site of the Dunbar Armored facility on Mateo Street.

Then two years ago, around $100m worth of jewels was stolen from a truck at a stop off The Grapevine highway.

While those responsible for the 1997 theft were caught, the 2022 crime remains unsolved.

The LAPD told The Independent that it had nothing to add at this time, with the FBI later confirming its joint investigation with the department.

Anyone with information about this theft is being asked to contact the FBI at 1 800 CALL-FBI (225-5324) or online, at tips.fbi.gov.