A pothole in the middle of a street in Miami, Florida, uncovered a secret tunnel linked to a bank, according to the local FBI branch that opened an investigation for attempted burglary, said Thursday the media local.
The hole formed in the middle of Flamingo Rd, in the Pembroke Pines neighborhood, in the west end of the city, at a branch of Chase Bank.
He finally hinted at a tunnel dug just inches away from the bitumen, according to photos posted on the Twitter account of the local branch of the federal police.
The hole was reported Wednesday by a resident local road services, which warned Miami police by discovering a garden hose in the conduit, told the daily Miami Herald .
Local police, with the support of the FBI, found the entrance to the tunnel hidden by pallets across the street. Next to it was an electric generator, a winch and a small wagon, said FBI spokesman Michael Leverock.
The tunnel, about 45 meters long, was only 60 to 90 cm in diameter. "You have to be very small to get in and you do not have to be claustrophobic," said the police officer.
According to him, the amateur digger had been digging for "several months, it is not done in a day".
The bank, which did not wish to comment, was not a victim of burglary, said the FBI.
The operating method is reminiscent of the famous "break of the century" that had aimed in the summer of 1976 Societe Generale Bank of Nice (south-east of France). The burglars had gone through the sewers and had dug a tunnel into the vault. The loot, which has never been found, was estimated at 46 million francs, the equivalent of 29.6 million euros.