The white van used to steal £26.5 million (€37.8 million) from the Northern Bank head office in Belfast was driven across the Border two hours before the robbery, the PSNI has said. Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor, reports
Police, revealing fresh information about the case in Belfast yesterday, also said that more than £10 million in stolen notes did not have their serial numbers recorded and could prove untraceable.
The Northern Bank pledged last week to replace all its banknotes in circulation, but this could take several weeks, giving the thieves valuable time to launder their haul.
Det Supt Andy Sproule, the senior investigating officer, said yesterday that his team knew that the distinctive white Ford van was driven across the Border on the main Belfast road at around 5 p.m. on December 20th, the day of the robbery.
It made two visits to Wellington Street in Belfast, according to CCTV evidence, at a side entrance to the bank at 7.12 p.m. and again at 8.12 p.m., but its whereabouts after that remain unknown. Details of its movements are "particularly important", Det Supt Sproule said.
Speaking from the investigation incident room in north Belfast, he said: "Where did the van go? Somebody must have seen it." Following the claim by the Chief Constable, Mr Hugh Orde, of IRA involvement, Det Supt Sproule said he was aware the public could be afraid to come forward because of perceived paramilitary threats.
Emphasising the importance to the investigation of the van and its movements, he said the van was a Ford Transit 350 long-wheelbase model with an unusual box design and lifting tailgate.
It had distinctive lamps on the cab roof, and the storage compartment did not extend over the driving position as in other models. So unusual was the van, the police said, that it took time to provide a mock-up model for last week's crime reconstruction at the bank.
The PSNI said that, of the £26.5 million taken, a significant portion would prove difficult to trace since serial numbers were unknown. Police have concluded that £1.15 million in new Northern Bank £100 notes and £50 notes was stolen, and they do not know the serial numbers. In addition, the gang stole £4.4 million in used Northern Bank notes, £950,000 in used Bank of Ireland notes, £900,000 in used First Trust notes, £200,000 in used Bank of England notes and a further £2.4 million in assorted used notes, and no serial numbers are known for these. No notes for which serial numbers are known have so far turned up.
Det Supt Sproule appealed for a couple with a child in a pushchair, who reported suspicious activity in the bank's vicinity to a traffic warden, to come forward.
Police were called to the scene after a couple said they had seen men possibly wearing wigs and carrying baseball bats. However, officers arrived just minutes after the van left the scene. He admitted the PSNI does not know the whereabouts of the white van or the stolen cash. Thousands of hours of CCTV recordings are being examined in a process expected to take months.
The 45-strong detective team was involved in a major protracted investigation, Det Supt Sproule added.
Some 850 lines of inquiry are being followed, 300 people have been interviewed, 140 statements have been taken and 700 exhibits are being examined by forensic experts.
He admitted the gang had operated in a manner described as "forensically aware" and would not be drawn by The Irish Times as to whether or not useful forensic clues had been uncovered at the homes of the two bank officials which were taken over by the gang for 24 hours while the robbery was carried out.
Det Supt Sproule said the PSNI had excellent co-operation with the Garda.
"They are helping us with many aspects of the investigation," he said, adding that he was encouraged by the response to police appeals from throughout Ireland.