Men charged with stealing almost $235,000 in dimes

Four men from Philadelphia in the US have been charged with the theft of more than two million 10-cent coins, worth around $250,000, that were being transported from the US Mint to a facility in Miami earlier this year.

The shipment, weighing around a tonne, was taken from a tractor-trailer targeted by the cargo theft gang as it was parked at a rest stop overnight.

The robbery was one of several attributed to the criminal network, which is suspected of stealing other shipments including various tractor-trailer loads of food and beverage products, and according to court documents, gang members were unaware that the unmarked van was transporting cash.

Rakiem Savage (25), Ronald Byrd (31) Haneef Palmer (30) and Malik Palmer (32) are facing charges of conspiracy, robbery and theft of government money, says a Philadelphia Inquirer report. The gang would transfer stolen goods into a box van and then sell the items online, it continues.

The total haul of around 7.5 million dimes was too heavy to be transported in its entirety, so the thieves split open the pallets, loading them into smaller bags, and leaving hundreds of thousands of coins spilt over the area. In the weeks after the heist gang members allegedly converted thousands of dollars of dimes into cash at Coinstar machines or deposited them in banks.

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