Heist Club

It's late August in Lake Tahoe in 1980, and crowds of tourists flood the casinos that mark the border between Nevada and California. One such casino is Harvey's Casino and Resort Hotel, the stateline's oldest gambling establishment. And just as the sun peaks out over the horizon a white van pulls up to the casino's delivery port. Then, two men in matching white jump suits unload a massive item hid...

On the night of August 14th, 1775, two dozen men sneak through the streets of St. George's in Bermuda, right under the British governor's nose. Only guided by moonlight, they trek to the top of a hill and face a stone building. Carefully and quietly, they chisel their way through the roof and send a man inside. What waits for him is over 3,000 pounds of gunpowder. They carry the barrels out to sea...

It's Memorial Day 2025 and employees at Dr. Conkey's Candy and Coffee in Simi Valley, California open the shop for the holiday. They are immediately met with disarray. There is paint splashed over the cameras, entire shelves are toppled over, and the safe is open. Strangely, there is also a hole in the wall leading to the business next door, 5 Star Jewelry and Watch Repair. The jewelry store owner...

It's the Wednesday after Easter weekend 1976 in Melbourne, Australia, and a good chunk of the city spent the weekend at the racetrack. Bookies handled swarms of people placing bets and left with a record breaking payload by the end of the melee. Now counting their winnings at the Victoria Club, they hear a bang, and six men wielding World War 2 era machine guns swarm the bookies and take their ent...

Shortly after 1 AM on February 22, 2006, an employee at the Bank of England's cash depot in Kent sees his boss on the exterior cameras asking to be let in. Strange, because he clocked out at 5:30 the evening before and wasn't expected until the morning. But, there's a police officer with him so it must be important. He buzzes them in and the second the door opens, the policeman draws his weapon. O...

It's a spring morning in a Texas swamp where an elusive alligator snapping turtle hunts for his meal. He spots some meat floating right in front of his face and chomps down. Instead of a delicious meal he feels the sharp sting of a hook; and now there are hands on his shell. He wriggles and thrashes against his attackers as they hoist him into a johnboat and manhandle him into a mesh bag. He's tak...

It's a beautiful Sunday morning in Oslo as visitors enter the Munch Museum, home to the acclaimed artist's paintings. But shortly after 11 AM two armed men crash through the doors and order everyone to the ground. They run around the gallery until they reach their destination: The Scream. After one, two, three tugs, they rip the iconic painting from the wall. On their way out, they rip down a seco...

It's a beautiful morning off the coast of West Africa on June 4, 1944. There isn't a cloud in the sky nor harsh ocean waves. The crew of the USS Guandalcanal, led by Captain David Gallery, sails north to refuel after their failure of a Nazi submarine hunt. But ten minutes later, there's a ping on the sonar. It's a sub just 800 meters away and 60 feet below the surface. Captain Gallery knows this i...

It's Saturday night in Fortaleza, Brazil, and as usual the popular tourist destination is bustling with night life. That energy extends beneath the surface where a group of men crawl through a tunnel of their own making. Their destination? The vault underneath Brazil's Central Bank. In conveyor belt fashion, they shuffle box after box down the line and into their safe house. At the end of the nigh...

On a February morning in 2017, LA based Star Wars collector Zach Tann gets the text that he's been dreaming of for the past 4 years: his contact has the ultra rare, and very expensive, Rocket Fett toy. Meanwhile in Texas, another collector walks the floor of his warehouse museum when he notices something is missing. His Rocket-Firing Boba Fett exhibit is missing a crucial piece: the $20,000 action...

On November 6, 2000, London's Millennium Dome opens for the day. A meager crowd walks through the gates alongside an even smaller security staff. As the visitors ponder the exhibitions, they hear a crash outside, and a loud rumbling that gets closer…and closer. Then, an excavator crashes through the side wall, heading straight towards the De Beers diamond exhibit. Tourists and employees dive out o...

In October 2018, in the dead of night, a mini-van drives along the California coast on the famous Route 101. When it pulls over to a cliff's edge, the van's passengers get out. But they don't take photos or enjoy the view. No, what they seek sits on the side of the jagged mountain. With their backpacks and ropes secured, they rappel over the edge. Minutes later, they climb back up, now with full b...

On a February evening in 1785 Paris, an intermediary for Queen Marie Antoinette enters a famous jewelry shop to secure a diamond necklace for the royal: the most expensive in history. She has been sent on strict instructions to keep the transaction secret, lest the king find out. The intermediary leaves as quick as she came, with a promise that the queen will start sending payments come summertime...

Just outside of Montreal, a vast industrial warehouse holds thousands of barrels of Canada's most valuable export: maple syrup. Each barrel weighs 1500 pounds and is worth nearly 20x more than crude oil. A single surveyor is making his routine inspection — climbing up on and around the barrels to make sure everything is up to snuff, when one barrel falls to the ground. Empty. It would not be the o...

In the days leading up to Christmas in 1990, the affluent town of Winnetka, Illinois suffers from a string of home invasion style robberies. Investigators believe that the break-ins are connected as they follow a similar M.O: the back or basement doors are forced open, the homes are ransacked, and the faucets are always left running. With more families going out of town for the holidays, police ar...

Welcome to part 2 of the Goodfellas heist. Last week on Heist Club, we dove into the world of the New York mafia in the 1970s and met Jimmy Burke, a powerful mob associate with a penchant for thievery, and his Robert's Lounge Gang. The gang is now moments away from robbing the Lufthansa vault at JFK airport.

A little after 3 in the morning at JFK airport, the night crew for Lufthansa Airlines goes for their meal break. After they sit down, masked gunmen storm in, demanding everyone get down. A few minutes later more employees are brought in, except for one, who's taken to the cargo terminal to open the safe. When he returns, the armed assailants warn them not to call the police until 15 minutes after...

On an October night in Beverly Hills, two teenagers walk the hiking trails that connect the affluent neighborhoods. They hop a fence, and head to the end of a mansion-lined street, to a house with a pink Bentley parked out front. The duo walks up the driveway and right through the front door, almost like they live there. An hour later, they leave with luxury bags stuffed with clothes, cash, and a...

In the early morning hours at a McDonald's, the opening staff unlock the doors and prepare the fast food joint for the morning rush. However, as they count cash at the register, a masked gunman bursts through the bathroom door. The employees shoot their hands up, terrified of what he might do next. Instead of deranged shouting and gunfire, he politely asks them to grab their coats and head into th...

On a Monday morning in Milan, employees of Italian jewelry house, Damiani, prepare the showroom for VIP guests, when suddenly, men identifying themselves as the Italian Financial Police burst into the room, already holding the caterer hostage. They demand the manager take them to the vault room for their investigation. While everyone else is tied up, the manager opens the inventory vault and the m...

On a September evening in 2019, a party rages on in Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill. Partygoers celebrate the arrival of an acclaimed, and strange, art piece. Each guest gets personal quality time with the work. But alas, the party must end. A couple hours later, two cars rip across the courtyard. 4 men leap out, armed with sledgehammers, crowbars, and wrenches. They smash a w...

On an October evening in 1997, a vault supervisor at the Loomis Fargo Armored Truck Company sends his trainee home early after an exhausting first day. After the trainee leaves, the supervisor walks the building, alone. He goes into his manager's office and takes two security tapes, then, he backs a truck up to the vault entrance. For over an hour he loads bricks upon bricks of cash, 2,700 pounds...

The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games in Sydney showcase the ultimate story of triumph. The  Spanish basketball team, led by men with intellectual disabilities absolutely dominates the competition…When they win the gold medal, they become national heroes, securing millions of dollars for their organization (and a few thousand in prize money). Pictures of the winning team explode across Spanish media, a...

On a Monday morning in Nice, France, customers at a bank grow agitated as they wait to make their deposits. The short line grows into a small crowd. The vault door is stuck. And as the hours tick by, the door won't budge. Not even the manufacturer can get it open. In the end, frustrated employees take a jackhammer to the wall and make a hole big enough to peek through. Instead of neatly sealed dep...

On the night of October 26, 1970, crowds swarm the streets of Atlanta, Georgia in anticipation. Muhammad Ali is officially back after a three year ban from boxing. While most of the city hits the bars and clubs, a select few travel to the west side for a highly exclusive after-party. They arrive at a house, ready for a days-long celebration full of booze, drugs, and gambling. Instead, they are met...