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Samsung suffers massive robbery in Brazil

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C

ComputerMKII

Banned
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-million-worth-of-tablets-phones-and-laptops/

Why rob a Samsung factory in Brazil? For $36 million worth of tablets, phones, and laptops.

RIO DE JANEIRO — Outrageous crimes happen with a certain frequency in Brazil. Bank robbery by way of a tunnel painstakingly dug from a nearby building is one favorite. ATMs are regularly ripped out of supermarkets and blown up, with mixed results. Dangerous criminals constantly fail to return to prison from holiday visits home (these are allowed, as are conjugal visits). Crime, in Brazil, can —and often does — pay.

But the daring robbery at a Samsung factory in Campinas in the early hours of Monday took the biscuit. An armed gang spent hours loading an enormous haul of cellphones, laptops and tablets onto a fleet of trucks, which then split off in different directions.

“They carried it off in approximately seven trucks and left the place with 40,000 products,” a spokesman for Campinas police told The Washington Post by telephone. Local media said $36 million worth of merchandise was stolen. Samsung insisted that the value was less but declined to give a figure.

Local media said nobody was hurt during the robbery, in which the gang of at least 20 armed men kept 100 employees under control for about three hours. TV Globo had CCTV images of the gang members, their faces hidden under hats and behind glasses, roaming the factory and loading crates onto trucks. Security guards had their weapons confiscated but, with a certain poetic irony, had been left guarding their positions.

The gang appeared to have entered the factory with remarkable ease. Police said the robbers hijacked a van carrying employees to work – one of whom was the manager. “The manager was arriving for work with other employees. They hijacked the van and entered the company with the van,” the police spokesman said.

Once inside, the gang split up and took control of employees. Police said they were armed with rifles but did not harm anyone. On the contrary, they seemed remarkably polite. One employee who was working in the factory canteen told TV Globo that his first inkling that something was wrong was when workers did not turn up for their meal. When the thieves loomed in a corridor outside, they told him to remain calm and took his cellphone battery.

“We are very worried about this incident,” Samsung said in a statement sent by e-mail. “Fortunately nobody was hurt. We have cooperated fully with the ongoing police investigation and will do our best to avoid any reoccurrence.”

A Samsung spokeswoman would not comment on a November report in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper that said a cargo of Samsung cellphones had been stolen on a Campinas highway amid a wave of robberies. The newspaper said the area had become known as the "Bermuda Triangle" because of the robberies of electronic goods. It added that most of the cellphones were later recovered.
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R

red731

Member
That will surely burn a hole.

Good that nobody was hurt, but get the act in "Bermuda Triangle" together, Brazil.
Whoa.
 
R

Radec

Member
Fast_Five_poster.jpg
 
A

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
How do you even resell 36 million of consumer eletronics?
 
A

Aquamarine

Member
What's been going on with Brazil lately?

Outrageous crimes happen with a certain frequency in Brazil. Bank robbery by way of a tunnel painstakingly dug from a nearby building is one favorite. ATMs are regularly ripped out of supermarkets and blown up, with mixed results. Dangerous criminals constantly fail to return to prison from holiday visits home (these are allowed, as are conjugal visits). Crime, in Brazil, can —and often does — pay.

A Samsung spokeswoman would not comment on a November report in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper that said a cargo of Samsung cellphones had been stolen on a Campinas highway amid a wave of robberies. The newspaper said the area had become known as the "Bermuda Triangle" because of the robberies of electronic goods. It added that most of the cellphones were later recovered.
Click to expand...


This sounds like a dangerous third-world country. :-(
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
Aquamarine said:
What's been going on with Brazil lately?




This sounds like a dangerous third-world country. :-(
Click to expand...

Because it is? It's one of the more advanced developing countries but still has huge problems with crime, corruption and poverty. It's in the top 20 countries in the world for homicide rate.
 
S

SillyEskimo

Member
Local media said $36 million worth of merchandise was stolen. Samsung insisted that the value was less but declined to give a figure.
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Samsung tablets, phones, and laptops? Goddamn right it's worth less.
 
M

M3d10n

Member
We are truly in the future when the target of a massive planned robbery isn't gold ingots or piles of cash, but electronic gadgets.

Hasney said:
The worst thing is, in my experience, you don't want a Samsung product without a warranty. Somehow I don't think these will be having one.
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It would be hilarious if Samsung setup a database with the serial numbers of all stolen units and have their support centers check it. "Sorry sir, your phone is stolen!'
 
R

Randy Monk

Member
M3d10n said:
We are truly in the future when the target of a massive planned robbery isn't gold ingots or piles of cash, but electronic gadgets.



It would be hilarious if Samsung setup a database with the serial numbers of all stolen units and have their support centers check it. "Sorry sir, your phone is stolen!'
Click to expand...

tumblr_mavl3zQXFb1rzapx4o1_500.gif
 
D

DieH@rd

Banned
Aureon said:
How do you even resell 36 million of consumer eletronics?
Click to expand...

Its 40 thousand pieces of products, they can segment that into hundreds of "resellers" and not make waves.

With 100 resellers, each of them will get 400 products, lets say 200 phones, 100 tablets and 100 tablets. Doable. They could also sell a lot online.
 
R

Road

Member
Samsung is now saying it's "only" $6.4 million dollars.

Millions of dollars worth of Apple cargo has already been stolen twice in such movie-like way (trucks and dozens of people) from airports.

thisisbrasil.gif
 
J

Javaman

Member
M3d10n said:
We are truly in the future when the target of a massive planned robbery isn't gold ingots or piles of cash, but electronic gadgets.



It would be hilarious if Samsung setup a database with the serial numbers of all stolen units and have their support centers check it. "Sorry sir, your phone is stolen!'
Click to expand...

I'm sure the smart devices like TVs will "check in" automatically if they hook up to the net. Not to mention phones. Should be pretty easy to track where they end up.
 
S

SirMossyBloke

Member
M3d10n said:
We are truly in the future when the target of a massive planned robbery isn't gold ingots or piles of cash, but electronic gadgets.



It would be hilarious if Samsung setup a database with the serial numbers of all stolen units and have their support centers check it. "Sorry sir, your phone is stolen!'
Click to expand...

In Canada theres a blacklist for stolen phones. Won't work on any carrier regardless of what they do. Its possible.
 
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