$2.5 Million In U.S. Aid Stolen From Heathrow

Thieves at London’s main airport have stolen $2.5 million in U.S. government aid bound for Russia, Scotland Yard said Sunday.

The cash disappeared last Tuesday from a high-security cargo compound at Heathrow Airport moments before the money was to be loaded on a British Airways flight to Moscow, a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said, confirming a report in The Mail newspaper.

The cash, in high denominations, came from New York’s Republic National Bank.

The stolen cash was in one of four bags holding a total of $10 million. The money had been moved from a safe at the airline’s cargo center to a sealed container that supposedly was under watch by a British Airways guard, who later noticed seals on the container had been broken.