Posters of Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala A. Mohammed, with the inscription ‘Kaura for President 2027’ have flooded Bauchi streets.
Daily Trust reports that the posters were placed at strategic places including roundabouts, electrical poles and signboards along major streets within the state capital.
It observed that the posters were visible along major streets of Railway road, Sabon Titin Karofi and Kofar Dumi street among others.
One of the youth hired for pasting the posters, Aminu Auwal, told the outlet that two politicians identified as Ya’u Ortega and Talolo, contracted them to do the job.
Auwal said: “We were directed to post the governor’s posters along major steers of Bauchi state. We started the work around 1am today and we are hoping to finish it today.”
No official comment has been issued yet.
2027: Bauchi Governor’s Posters Flood State is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Charles Okah, the convicted Independence Day bomber who has been in solitary confinement at the Maiduguri Maximum Security Custodial Centre (MaSCC) since March 16, 2025, has sustained injuries following an incident at the prison.
Unconfirmed reports from inside the facility suggest that Okah may have succumbed to smoke inhalation after a suspected explosive device triggered a fire in his cell on Sunday, April 20. A correctional officer who spoke anonymously to SaharaReporters claimed the explosion led to a blaze that engulfed Okah’s cell.
However, prison authorities have denied any bomb explosion occurred—either at MaSCC or in any other custodial facility across the country.
Sources earlier told SaharaReporters the fire reportedly resulted from an improvised incendiary explosive device thrown into his cell through the window bars at around 9:00 pm on Sunday.
According to sources, the explosion led to a rapid fire that engulfed the mosquito net and mattress where Okah slept.
Charles Okah, known for his outspoken criticisms and recent open letter to Hon. (Dr.) Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Interior Minister, has reportedly been the subject of harassment and maltreatment by MaSCC authorities.
Since his solitary confinement, he has reportedly been deprived of basic human rights, with authorities reportedly targeting anyone perceived as his ally.
In the wake of Okah’s detention, a series of events has raised concerns about the treatment of inmates at the facility.
Sources said on April 9, 2025, a Reverend, currently an inmate and an ex-soldier, was brutally tortured after being found in possession of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) Act of 2019.
It was also learnt that on April 14, 2025, at around 6:00 am, a team from the Armed Squad Unit, led by Superintendent Izge, conducted a search of Okah’s cell. During the search, all of Okah’s Christian books, praying rosary, and dictionary were confiscated.
According to sources, the team also discovered a letter in which Okah had been drafting a complaint to the Borno State Attorney General about alleged corruption within the prison system, according to sources.
Okah’s letter detailed the faking of inmate deaths, a practice allegedly used to circumvent legal processes and allow certain inmates to “resurrect” as free men after being declared dead.
Okah pointed to a specific case: the death of a man convicted in Honourable Justice Aisha Komaliya’s Court, who was said to have died of sudden cardiac arrest on December 22, 2024, only to be “resurrected” on the way to his burial. Okah claimed that the death certificates and medical reports on cause of death were destroyed, erasing all evidence of the fraudulent activity.
This revelation sheds light on the extraordinarily high number of deaths recorded in Borno prisons, a trend that has raised suspicion given the absence of any outbreak of viruses or epidemics.
Sources note that Okah’s knowledge of these activities appears to have made him a target of persecution within the prison.
“The search also yielded a letter Charles Okah was drafting to the Borno State Attorney General about the faking of deaths of inmates in order to circumvent the due legal process and “resurrect” from outside the prison as free men,” a source said.
“The faking of deaths and forgery of death certificates explains the astronomically high number of deaths being recorded in Borno prisons on a monthly basis when indeed there was no outbreak of a virus or epidemic.”
As of now, the fate of Charles Okah remains uncertain, with sources fearing that he may have lost his life in the suspected explosion.
However, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Abubakar Umar, has denied that any bomb explosion occurred at the facility. He also said Okah was alive but “injured after creating panic in the facility”.
He said, “If there was a bomb explosion, you know how it would affect many things around, and not just his cell. There was nothing like a bomb explosion at Maiduguri prison or any of our prisons in the country. So that is not true.
“What I can say is that it is very important to monitor these prisoners very well because there is nothing that they won’t do to try to escape. They can smuggle anything in. But these prisoners also need spiritual upliftment. After he (Okah) returned from church on Sunday, he created panic to create the impression that there was danger or that he was in danger.
“He has a history of creating trouble anywhere he is kept, and that was what happened again. He created panic in the cell, but there was nothing like an explosion. He only had an injury.”
However, when SaharaReporters asked about the nature of Okah’s injuries and how he sustained them, Umar stated that an ongoing investigation would reveal the details.
He added that some inmates opt for self-feeding and that it was unclear what Okah had consumed.
“Investigation will reveal what really happened because an investigation is already ongoing into how he created panic. You know that lighters and matches are also not allowed in cells,” he said.
A prison official alleged that Okah has a history of causing disturbances in a bid to prompt his transfer to another facility.
A correctional officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Every prison Okah has been held in, he has stirred up trouble,” the source said. “Whenever he gets tired of a facility and wants to be transferred, he deliberately causes problems. He has a reputation for being disruptive wherever he goes.”
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards racked up 22 points, eight rebounds and nine assists on April 19. (Mark J. Terrill/AP via CNN Newsource)
By Homero De la Fuente, CNN
(CNN) — The NBA Playoffs officially tipped off with a sizzling four-game slate on Saturday.
In the night’s finale, the Los Angeles Lakers fell to a heavy defeat in front of their home fans, losing 117-95 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of their Western Conference best-of-seven series.
The Lakers hit the halftime break reeling, down 59-48, and things only got worse as Minnesota jumped out with an 11-0 run in the third to extend the lead to 22. Anthony Edwards, who finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and nine assists, torched the Lakers with a 3-pointer that stretched the lead to 27 points with just over five minutes left in the third.
But the Lakers, sparked by their new superstar Luka Dončić, refused to go quietly. A 13-3 run clawed them back into the fight, and Dončić sent the crowd at Crypto.Com Arena into a frenzy, drilling a halfcourt buzzer-beater at the end of the third to cut the deficit to 94-78.
Minnesota weathered the Lakers surge, countering with a 12-2 run in the fourth quarter to shut down any hopes of a comeback.
Jaden McDaniels led the Wolves’ charge with 25 points and nine rebounds, while Julius Randle added 16 points. The Timberwolves knocked down a franchise playoff-record 21 3-pointers.
For the Lakers, Dončić finished with eight rebounds and game-high 37 points – tying George Mikan for the second-highest haul in a Laker postseason debut. LeBron James contributed 19 points in the loss.
“I’m not sure physically we were ready, if that makes sense,” said Lakers head coach JJ Redick. “And really, when they started playing with a lot of thrust and physicality, we just didn’t respond immediately to that, and then that stretch from the start of the second through four, five minutes to go in the third.
“We lost that stretch by 34, so that’s a blowout.”
Both teams will return to the court for Game 2 on Tuesday, April 22.
Elsewhere, the New York Knicks stunned the Detroit Pistons at Madison Square Garden, orchestrating a 21-0 run in the fourth quarter to erase an 11-point deficit and seal Game 1, 123-112.
Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 34 points, overcoming early shooting struggles and a late injury scare to hand the Pistons an NBA record-extending 14th straight playoff loss.
Brunson started the first half shooting 2-of-13 from the field, but finished 12-for-27, including eight points in the game-clinching run. In the fourth quarter, the star guard appeared to tweak his right ankle on several occasions, before going to the locker room to change his shoes
“Obviously, we didn’t end the third quarter the way we wanted to, but there was never a doubt that we’re going to just lay down and not fight,” Brunson said after the game. “We had to find a way to figure things out and keep battling and I mean, it turned around quickly.”
Both squads will return to the court on Monday in New York.
It was a back-and-forth battle between the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 1, with the Nuggets escaping with a 112-110 win in overtime.
The Clippers took a 15-point lead in the first half but the Nuggets battled back and by the final minutes of regulation the teams were trading the lead back and forth.
Neither team was willing to give an inch and, in the end, 48 minutes was not enough to settle things.
In overtime, the decisive moment came from an unlikely source in Christian Braun, who hit a 3-pointer with a minute left to put Denver up by four.
Pesky defense from veteran Russell Westbrook created a key turnover to let the Nuggets ice it from the free-throw line.
In the first game of the four-game slate, the Indiana Pacers’ strong first half set the pace en route to a 117-98 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
In a rematch of last year’s first-round series, the Pacers held a 67-43 lead at halftime and never looked back to win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first-round series.
Pascal Siakam led Indiana with 25 points and seven rebounds, while Tyrese Haliburton added 10 points and 12 assists in the win.
For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 36 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. Milwaukee was without star guard Damian Lillard, who missed the contest with deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. According to reports, Lillard could come back to play in either Game 2 or 3.
A downtown alderman’s push for a stricter curfew to curb “teen takeovers” could face tweaks before a vote as soon as Wednesday.
Ald. Brian Hopkins promised once again Tuesday to move forward on his bid for an 8 p.m. curfew for teens downtown, two hours earlier than the current citywide rule. But he said he’s open to tailoring the broad ordinance so it targets the chaotic gatherings he wants to stop, a move he may need to make to win City Council approval.
Negotiations in the council are ongoing, and Hopkins is confident he can win over a majority of aldermen, he said. He will look to the advice of Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling and police district commanders before agreeing to changes, he added.
“When they feel that an effective tool is on the table in front of them — may or may not be the perfect solution, but good enough — we are going to go with that,” Hopkins said. “But we’re not there yet.”
Hopkins’ push comes in the wake of two high-profile gatherings of young people in Streeterville that ended in violence. A 46-year-old tourist was shot in her arm on March 9 and a 15-year-old boy suffered bullet graze wounds three weeks later.
The so-called teen takeovers, fueled by social media posts, have sprung up in the city during early warm-weather weekends. They have sometimes ended in tragedy.
Johnson’s administration deserves a “good grade” for its handling of three takeovers last weekend that had been advertised online, including one gathering planned at Millennium Park, Hopkins said.
“A significant number of teens did get off the Red Line and went there looking for the party, and they didn’t see it,” Hopkins said. “They saw a large group of police officers standing at the ready, and they saw an even larger group of community-based violence interrupters, counselors, Chicago Public Schools staff, people ready to greet them and tell them you don’t want to do this here.”
Johnson said Tuesday that police prevented another takeover and responded to the third that emerged in Hyde Park, where officers made “a handful of arrests.”
“We want our young people to be able to explore every part of our city. That is their right as Chicagoans,” Johnson said at a City Hall news conference. “But we cannot allow gatherings to turn violent and put our young people and our entire communities at risk of gun violence.”
Asked where he stands on Hopkins’ ordinance, the mayor pushed back on the proposal’s current downtown focus. “Diverting the problem somewhere else, that doesn’t reflect my values,” he said.
But like Hopkins, he signaled his openness to negotiations, a softening of Johnson’s stance on the idea compared to his past comments. Without specifying what in the curfew ordinance might change, he said Hopkins had been “amenable” to some suggested alterations and added that “the table is open and we are discussing ideas.”
Hopkins said the mayor did not appear to oppose his efforts.
“He’s aware it’s happening, and he’s letting it happen,” the downtown alderman said. “What his ultimate decision will be, I won’t speak for him, I don’t know, but I know he’s just letting this play out.”
Hopkins said he may bring his current ordinance up for a vote Wednesday, try to force a vote on an amended version or send the amended version back to City Council committee, where it could be more fully vetted by aldermen.
Also Tuesday, Community Safety Deputy Mayor Garien Gatewood said nine companies had applied for a new city gunshot detection technology contract by last Friday’s deadline.
Johnson’s administrations opened the request last fall after the mayor axed the ShotSpotter acoustic gunshot detection system long used by police. The ShotSpotter shutdown, which Johnson promised in his mayoral campaign, rankled aldermen and sparked months of legislative battles over the emergency response tool.
Gatewood confirmed that ShotSpotter’s parent company, SoundThinking, was one of the companies that made a proposal. Company officials have said since shortly after Johnson ended their earlier deal that they would be among those vying for the new contract. The company will not be automatically rejected despite Johnson’s past opposition, Gatewood said.
“I’m not standing out against anyone or holding any particular organization above another,” Gatewood said.
The deputy mayor declined to discuss specific proposals, but said the process of picking from among them is already underway.
“The goal is to expedite it,” he said. “To get something to continue on the downward trend of crime that we have seen, the downward trends of violence that we’ve seen.”
According to CPD, murders are down 24% through early April compared with the same time last year, while robberies, aggravated batteries, burglaries, felony thefts and motor vehicle thefts have also seen large drops.
Asked if new technology would be put in place by the summer, Johnson didn’t answer directly. Instead, he praised his broad efforts to improve public safety, touting work to add detectives, bring in new police helicopters, expand city-run mental health care and bolster community violence prevention work.
“We’re already seeing a decline without technology,” he said. “If it were just one thing that could make us all safe, I believe the city of Chicago would have purchased that before I became mayor.”
The death toll from the three-storey building collapse at 9 and 10 Oremeta Street in the Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos has risen to seven.
The number of casualties increased after two more bodies were recovered from the rubble on Monday afternoon.
Rescue efforts and debris clearance are still ongoing at the scene.
THE WHISTLER reports that the building, which housed a popular local restaurant, collapsed around 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, prompting a swift response from emergency agencies.
By 5:48 a.m. on Sunday, emergency responders had rescued 13 victims alive, while five bodies—three women and two men—had been recovered.
On Sunday, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) confirmed that safety protocols had been activated, and the area had been cordoned off to ensure secure rescue operations.
The agency also deployed a range of rescue equipment, including heavy and light machinery such as excavators, payloaders, concrete cutters, spreaders, and chains.
Personnel from multiple agencies—including the LASEMA Tiger and Cobra Response Teams, Pre-Hospital Care Unit, Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps (LNSC), Lagos State Public Works Corporation (LSPWC), Nigeria Police Force, and the Nigeria Red Cross—are actively involved in the rescue efforts.
Authorities have not yet released the identities of the deceased, as investigations into the cause of the collapse continue.
Death Toll In Ojodu-Berger Building Collapse Rises To Seven is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
Four workers have d!ed during a routine maintenance operation at the Gubi Dam Water Treatment Plant in Bauchi State.
The incident occurred around 5 pm on Sunday, April 20, 2025 when workers were carrying out a sludge cleaning exercise in the plant’s tunnel.
Spokesperson of the Bauchi State Police Command, CSP Ahmed Mohammed Wakil, who confirmed the incident in a statement said the workers had entered the clarifier to dislodge pit pipes but were tragically overcome and retrieved unconscious.
“At about 1700 hours today, a tragic event unfolded at the Gubi Dam Water Treatment Plant, resulting in the unfortunate loss of four dedicated staff members during a sludge cleaning operation in the plant’s tunnels,” the statement read.
“This incident underlines the urgent need for reinforcing workplace safety practices and strict adherence to established protocols.
“The deceased are: Shayibu Hamza, 48, Abdulmalik Yahya, 29, Jamilu Inusa, 29, and Ibrahim Musa, 42
“They all resided in Firo village, Ganjuwa L.G.A., in Bauchi State. Their commitment to their work at the Gubi Dam Water Treatment Plant has left an indelible mark on their colleagues and the broader community.
“The sludge cleaning operation commenced around 1200 hours. During the procedure, the staff members entered the clarifier to dislodge pit pipes but were tragically overcome and retrieved unconscious. Despite immediate medical interventions, they were pronounced dead at Specialist Hospital Bauchi.
“Upon receiving information about the incident, the police quickly deployed personnel. Following standard protocols, the bodies were recovered, and an investigation is underway to ascertain the specifics surrounding this occurrence. The management of the water treatment plant is fully cooperating with relevant authorities to facilitate a comprehensive and transparent review.
“This incident serves as a critical reminder of the importance of safety in the water treatment sector. It underscores the responsibility of both employers and employees to emphasise and adhere to established safety protocols to mitigate future risks.
The Bauchi State Police Command, under the leadership of CP Sani-Omolori Aliyu psc(+)mni, extends heartfelt condolences to the management of the Gubi Dam Water Treatment Plant and to the families, friends, and colleagues of the deceased.
“We hope for comfort and strength for their families during this challenging time and remain committed to supporting improvements in safety standards.”
The attackers also carted away foodstuffs and livestock, sources told SaharaReporters.
Militants from the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād have attacked Buni Yadi, killing three soldiers.
The attackers also carted away foodstuffs and livestock, sources told SaharaReporters.
Buni Yadi, in Gujba Local Government Area, located 54 kilometres away from Damaturu, the state capital, was one of the worst-hit local communities in Yobe State under the control of the Boko Haram insurgents for two years.
“My home town came under attack overnight by Boko Haram terrorists. Three soldiers were killed, and foodstuffs and livestock were carted away. However, the army collected three cars from the terrorists. The attack started around 11 pm on Sunday till 4 am this morning (Monday),” a resident told SaharaReporters.
Nigeria has been grappling with insurgency in the North-East for nearly two decades.
The terrorist group has claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions, with Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states bearing the brunt of the crisis.
Pills used for HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) are pictured. (MarcBruxelle/iStock Editorial/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)
By Tierney Sneed, Tami Luhby and Sarah Owermohle, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is defending the Affordable Care Act before the Supreme Court – a notable contrast to his first term, when his administration sought to repeal the law in Congress and then refused to defend it in a major challenge brought by GOP-led states.
But a win for the federal government in the current case, concerning the law’s mandates that certain preventive services are covered cost-free, could boost the power that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has in shaping those requirements.
It comes as Kennedy shakes up the health agency with mass layoffs and plans to consolidate huge swathes of its authorities in a new, $20 billion “Administration for a Healthy America.” Kennedy has questioned a litany of public health recommendations, and a victory in this case could put him in more direct control of at least one expert panel focused on those policies.
On Monday, the justices will be considering the legality of certain no cost-sharing coverage mandates that were created by a government entity known as the US Preventive Services Task Force, which issues recommendations that are supposed to be shielded from political influence.
At stake is the ability of millions of Americans to access cost-free preventive services that include cancer screenings, statins that help prevent cardiovascular disease, PrEP drugs that help prevent HIV infections, and counseling referrals for pregnant and postpartum women at increased risk of depression.
Cost sharing was an “enormous barrier” to people getting such care, according to Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.
“Simple stuff, like more people getting their blood pressure checked, more people getting their flu shots, more people getting the cholesterol screenings, more people getting some cancer screenings, like colonoscopy, breast screenings, those kinds of things,” Benjamin told reporters at a press briefing organized by the advocacy group Protect Our Care.
The case is part of the latest wave of conservative legal attacks on the Affordable Care Act, but one that doesn’t threaten to take down the landmark health reform law, which has expanded health insurance coverage to tens of millions of Americans.
The challengers argue that mandates are unconstitutional because, under Obamacare, they come from a task force whose membership hasn’t been Senate confirmed.
A ruling in the government’s favor would leave those mandates intact for now, but the fight over how those mandates are crafted will continue, both in court and in the control that Kennedy attempts to exert over Obamacare’s requirements.
“The Supreme Court ruling in favor of preserving these services is not going to end the issue,” said Andrew Pincus, a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown who filed an amicus brief supporting the mandates on behalf of the American Public Health Association.
Pincus, speaking at the Protect Our Care briefing, predicted that the Supreme Court was likely to say, “that the Secretary of HHS has some authority to oversee how the task force operates and the decision that it makes.”
“So, the question will then be, will HHS follow the science and uphold the USPSTF recommendations, or will it take a different course?” he said.
CNN has reached out to HHS for comment.
Part of a larger war over Obamacare
The lawsuit was filed at the end of the first Trump administration by a Texas business and other individuals who did not want to offer coverage of certain preventive services, including PrEP medications for HIV, because of their religious and moral objections to those treatments.
They are represented by Jonathan Mitchell, a well-known conservative lawyer who has been involved in other culture war disputes in court, including a significant abortion case at the Supreme Court, and who represented Trump when he was a presidential candidate in a challenge to the state of Colorado’s attempt to remove him from the ballot.
The challengers’ religious liberties claims were spun off into separate proceedings. The dispute in front of the court Monday focuses on a constitutional clause known as the Appointments Clause, which establishes the president and Senate’s role in appointing and confirming officials that wield significant government power.
Lower courts agreed with the challengers’ Appointments Clause arguments, but only as they applied to one of the three different entities that issue the recommendations that become the preventive coverage mandates under Obamacare.
As the Supreme Court’s weighs in on the taskforce’s constitutionality, another round of litigation will continue before US District Judge Reed O’Connor about the mandates based on the ACA recommendations of the other two entities, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and the Health Resources and Services Administration, which provides guidelines on preventive care for women and children, including annual visits and an array of screenings.
Those proceedings focus on procedural questions about those mandates, rather than whether those entities’ role in the process was constitutional.
Outside the courtroom, however, Kennedy has been particularly critical of ACIP, the committee overseeing vaccine recommendations.
The secretary has accused the panel — typically an assembly of pediatricians, vaccine experts, and other physicians — of being too close to the manufacturers that develop those vaccines. As secretary, he could remove and replace members of the committee.
Dispute over HHS secretary’s role
In the dispute the justices are hearing Monday, the US Solicitor General and Obamacare’s foes will spar over the role the HHS secretary plays in deciding which of the Preventative Services Task Force’s recommendations ultimately become coverage mandates.
The challengers argue that the secretary has virtually no say over the matter, and thus the task force is acting like a so-called “Principal Officer” that should have been appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The administration argues in its briefs that the taskforce members are what’s known as “inferior officers” and that the “Secretary, not the Task Force, is ultimately responsible for deciding what recommendations will have final, binding legal effect.”
The Justice Department’s current argument is a continuation of how the Biden administration was approaching the case, and “it’s every bit as legally appropriate” now, said Nicholas Bagley, a professor at University of Michigan Law School who specializes in administrative and health law.
“But the ideological valiance has shifted, because you’re vesting the right to make important decisions about preventive services in someone who has medical views very outside of the mainstream,” Bagley said.
The FBI is now investigating a jewelry heist that involved thieves tunneling through multiple walls to break into a downtown Los Angeles jewelry store over the weekend.
Millions of dollars in gold and jewels were stolen from a downtown jeweler’s two enormous safes after burglars tunneled into the Broadway shop through multiple reinforced walls, police said.
In security video of the weekend break-in, a massive drill can be heard carving through the main castlelike wall, making a hole big enough for a person to slip through to enter Love Jewels, Reina de Oro at Broadway and 5th Street.
Los Angeles Police say the thieves on Sunday night cut through a room next to the gold merchant in the 500 block of Broadway. LAPD officials said the owners informed the department that the thieves took about $10 million worth of merchandise.
LAPD Capt. Raul Jovel, who oversees the department’s central division, said the thieves tunneled into the building through the Roxy, a small movie theater next door.
“They went for some really thick old walls. They went into one small room and then through a second wall,” Jovel said. “This was serious digging.”
Jovel said initially it was thought only about $5 million in jewelry was stolen, but officials now believe north of $10 million was taken.
On Tuesday, the FBI’s major theft task force took over the investigation, according to LAPD communications director Jennifer Forkish.
In recent years, burglars have entered jewelry stores through rooftops, Joven said. Tunneling, while rare, isn’t unheard of. A business in the Fashion District was burglarized through tunneling thieves, Joven said. In Northern California, thieves last summer stole dozens of guns by tunneling into a store.
The jewelry store, which has heavy security, is known for being the source of bling for rappers, artists, and some gangsters. On social media, the store boasts images of personal necklace tributes, gold Rolex watch straps, diamond-encrusted miniature AK-47s, M-4 trinkets, and enormous racks of gold chains.
The theft is the latest in a series of cinema-style high-profile capers that have seen millions in cash, gold, or diamonds stolen while the suspects avoid detection. In 2022, as much as $100 million in jewels was stolen from a Brinks big rig. As one guard and another went into a gas station, a gang of thieves made off with the massive haul within a 27-minute window.
Then, in March of last year, thieves stole as much as $30 million from GardaWorld’s Sylmar cash storage facility. Los Angeles police responded to three alarms at the facility during the biggest heist in the city’s history on Easter weekend, but the criminals remained undetected.
In the latest downtown tunnel caper, LAPD investigators say the burglars, after entering, cut the security camera feed, and there are no images of them inside the business. However, LAPD forensic experts are examining the scene for fingerprints and DNA.
LAPD investigators examined recordings and determined the heist began about 9:30 p.m. Sunday, but the burglar crew could have begun cutting into adjacent properties earlier. The jewelers discovered the theft Monday morning when they arrived at their shop.
Investigators believe the likely high-level professional burglars spent several hours inside the business. The modus operandi of such a crime has already helped narrow the potential participants in the heist.
Burglars have taken to digging their way into vaults since at least the 1980s. Back then, there was a crew known as the Hole in the Ground Gang that tunneled under three L.A.-area banks, zipping around underground in all-terrain vehicles. They broke into two of the banks, making off with about $270,000 and the contents of safe-deposit boxes worth potentially millions.
Last March, thieves tried to tunnel into a jeweler at the Topanga Canyon Plaza in Chatsworth. According to the LAPD, the owner was working and triggered the robbery alarm despite it being the middle of the night. The thieves had broken through multiple walls in a neighboring salon and another business to reach the jeweler’s interior wall.
