Top 10 Heists

As police chase after the robbers responsible for two high-profile capers in Europe — the day-time theft of a Renee Magritte painting in Brussels, and the helicopter-aided robbery of a Swedish vault — TIME examines 10 of history's most daring heists

Sweden's GS4 Cash Depot - 2009

Maja Suslin / AP
  • Print

In a spectacular heist reminiscent of Mission Impossible, a group of masked gunman raided a cash depot in Sweden using a helicopter, a couple of authentic bombs and one well-placed fake. Just before sunrise on Sept. 23, the burglars arrived on the rooftop of the GS4 cash depot, smashed the glass roof, detonated their way to the building's vault, and hoisted themselves — and the bags of money they made off with — back up to the helicopter. Swedish police, meanwhile, wre diverted by a fake bomb planted at a nearby helipad. (According to CNN, the decoy was literally a bag marked "BOMB.") Though the depot won't disclose how much money was stolen, apparently it's enough to raise concerns that Stockholm's ATMs might run out of cash.

How would you rank the "Top 10 Heists?" Re-sort this list »