AKIPRESS.COM - Brazilian police have foiled an audacious plot to steal £250m ($331m) from a bank in São Paulo via a 500-metre underground tunnel complete with electric lighting and a ventilation system, The Guardianreported.

Investigators say the gang planned to break into a São Paulo branch of the government-owned Banco do Brasil through the tunnel which had been dug from a nearby rented property.

If successful, the robbery would have dwarfed the biggest bank heist in the country’s history, when thieves tunneled into the Fortaleza brach of the Central Bank and stole 165m Brazilian reais.

“This would have been the biggest bank robbery in the world,” chief investigator Fabio Pinheiro Lopes told the Guardian.

“They are an extremely dangerous and organised gang with a long history, including some violent crimes like homicide. If you look at their ages most are above 35 – well above the age of your average Brazilian criminal,” he added.