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NRW Police Deploy 230 Investigators as Gelsenkirchen Vault Heist Probes Deepen

Investigators face a months-long evidence review with unresolved questions about failed alarms.

Overview

  • Interior Minister Herbert Reul briefed a special Landtag session as BAO "Bohrer" grew to about 230 investigators drawn from regional forces and the LKA.
  • The sealed vault remains a crime scene with several hundred thousand items to process, about 10,000 hours of video (≈8 TB) to review, and chemically contaminated evidence requiring months of work.
  • Police say a non-openable escape door from the parking structure was manipulated and a 40-centimeter hole was drilled, with the thieves spending at least four hours in the vault and forcing nearly all of the 3,256 boxes.
  • The value of the haul remains uncertain, with estimates shifting from the mid–two-digit millions to a possible three-digit million-euro loss, and no arrests publicly reported.
  • Attorney Daniel Kuhlmann plans to file suit next week with mandates from roughly 150 victims and similar numbers interested, while Sparkasse cites per-box coverage up to €10,300 and defends its security as state of the art.