London: Police arrested a third person Friday over Britain's possibly biggest-ever robbery, involving up to £50 million ($87.5 million) snatched from a cash depot in southeast England.
Kent Police said a 41-year-old woman was being questioned on suspicion of handling stolen goods after she was detained on Thursday at a building society (credit union) in the south London suburb of Bromley.
Two other people -- a 29-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman -- were also arrested on Thursday in connection with Tuesday's armed raid on the Securitas cash depot in Tonbridge, southeast of London.
Adrian Leppard, deputy chief of Kent police, which has posted a reward of £2 million, said Thursday's arrests "were significant and directly related to the investigation".
He said that at least £20 million had been stolen, but added that further forensic investigation might put the figure "as high as 40 million, or even 50 million."
The aid -- probably the result of months of extensive reconnaissance work -- saw depot manager Colin Dixon, 51, and his wife Lynn, 45, and son Craig, 8, abducted separately and 15 workers held at gunpoint.
The robbers, who forced Dixon to help them gain access to the cash, were disguised as police officers while the others, possibly up to six, were said to be masked and wearing boiler suits.
The cash was taken away in a large white delivery van.
Leppard said his team was in touch with police in Northern Ireland where £26.5 million was stolen in a December 2004 raid at the headquarters of the Northern Bank in Belfast.
Police linked that operation to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), a claim denied by its political wing Sinn Fein.
In comparison, Ronald Biggs and accomplices netted £2.6 million in the infamous "Great Train Robbery" that targeted a London to Glasgow mail train in August 1963.
That is the equivalent of £33.45 million in today's money, taking into account the retail price index.
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